J.A. Bayona Plans Spanish Civil War Film

Following two major Hollywood gigs as helmer of Universal’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and the first two episodes of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” filmmaker J.A. Bayona is returning home.

Bayona is set to develop a film adaptation of Manuel Chaves Nogales’ short story collection “A sangre y fuego” (aka. “By Fire and Sword”) which is considered one of the best books on the suffering of both sides of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. Though fiction, all the stories are said to be based on true events.

Bayona will work with “Alatriste” and “Don’t Tempt Me” writer-director Agustin Diaz Yanes on the project with Bayona, speaking at the Seville European Film Festival on Friday, saying he is “especially interested in the humanist vision” of the work.

The project, which has been in development for several years, marks his return to Spanish-language filmmaking since his 2006 feature debut “The Orphanage”.

He is currently in post-production of the adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s novel “Society of the Snow” which recounts the same true story previously adapted into 1993’s “Alive” about the survivors of a plane crash in the Andes in 1972.

Source: Variety