Nadie Es Perfecto, the Spanish production house founded by Kiko Martinez, has announced it is to produce smash hit Spanish-language young adult novel “Mala influencia,” written by Teensspirit for Wattpad Webtoon story telling platform. It will be produced with Mexico’s The 42 Film and Wattpad Webtoon Studios.
To be directed by Catalan helmer Roger Gual, the script has been adapted for the big screen by Gual himself along with close collaborator, Spanish Mexico-based scriptwriter Antón Goenechea. It will be the first project produced by former Netflix exec and industry veteran Juan Mayne in his new position at Nadie Es Perfecto, which he began earlier this year.
A romantic thriller with Romeo and Juliette shades of a forbidden love between two star-crossed youths separated by a social chasm, the project will be set on Spain’s Costa del Sol and promises to take a glancing look at urban real estate corruption in the area.
The story centres on the fated romance between an abandoned orphan boy and pampered rich-kid girl trying to uncover secrets of the past to save their relationship – and their skin. The novel has harvested as many as 41 million views on story-telling platform Wattpad.
Said Mayne, “After the amazing experience of bringing ‘Through My Window’ by Ariana Godoy to millions of fans all around the world, I’m thrilled to work once again with Wattpad to adapt ‘Mala influencia,’ a powerful story that will surely inspire young people everywhere.”
“‘Mala influencia’ is an incredible story that has captivated fans across the Spanish-speaking world,” said David Madden, head of global entertainment, Wattpad Webtoon Studios.
He added: “Millions of readers have fallen in love with Teensspirit’s stories and followed in bookstores, so we’re thrilled to work with Nadie es perfecto to bring fans a film adaptation of their favourite book.”
“Through My Window” ranks as the fourth most-watched Netflix non-English movie ever.
Former Netflix exec Juan Mayne is responsible for hits like “Money Heist” and “Bomb Sacred.” Kiko Martinez’s Nadie Es Perfecto has been behind some of the biggest Spanish box-office hits of recent years, such as Alex de la Iglesia’s “Perfect Strangers” and has Carlos Theron’s “Fenómenas,” in the pipeline among other projects. Wattpad WEBTOON studios produce audience driven fan-based fiction for television, books and movies.
Roger Gual burst onto the scene with one of Spain’s coolest and smartest flixs of the noughties, Goya winning “Smoking Room” and went on to work with Juan Mayne on Netflix produced “Seven Years” – its first Spanish original movie – and “Cable Girls,” its first Spanish original series, among other titles.
“Mala influencia” reunites Mayne, Gual and Goeneceha together under the banner of Martinez’s production shingle, a happy formula which will cause no-one any surprise if repeated again in time to come.
