Buena Vista International Buys Antonio Banderas Ship Thriller 'Mare Nostrum'

Buena Vista International has picked up Antonio Banderas's upcoming film "Mare Nostrum" for theatrical and all-media distribution across Latin America. HanWay Films is selling the project at the American Film Market.

"Mare Nostrum" comes from the Argentinian writer-director duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, whose previous credits include "Official Competition" and "The Distinguished Citizen." Banderas worked with the pair on "Official Competition" and returns here as the Captain, commanding a giant commercial container ship hauling a billion-euro cargo from Istanbul to Cape Town.

The plot turns on one unvetted decision. The Captain rescues a dinghy of refugees from a storm, and no European country will let them dock. What starts as a rescue snowballs into an international political crisis.

According to the synopsis, "as his profile escalates amid empty cries of support, the Captain navigates quite the odyssey with a bizarre cast including the Prime Minister of Spain, activists, coast guards, an international rock star, a hard-nosed corporate lawyer, marine insurance brokers and an all-ages band of African refugees."

Who is building the film?

Pre-production is actively underway, and principal photography is scheduled to begin in March 2027 in Bilbao, Spain. The creative team stacks up like this:

• Producer: Jose Luis Escolar ("Kill Jackie," "Vampire Academy")
• Cinematographer: Goya award winner Xavi Giménez ("Machinist," "Transsiberian")
• VFX: Marvel Universe specialist Arturo López Iriarte ("Murderbot," "Money Heist"), using 3D scanner technology to tell a story aboard one of the largest container ships in the world
• Production designer: multiple Goya winner Alain Bainée ("Society of the Snow," "Official Competition"), reuniting with the directors

The executive producer roster includes Cohn, Duprat, Banderas, Alejandro Roemmers, Manu Fabeiro, Manuel Martí, Gonzalo Fried and Carolina Krasñansky.

What does the deal change for the film?

It secures a major-studio distribution channel — Buena Vista International is Disney's international releasing arm — for Latin America before a single frame is shot. That's a strong early vote of confidence, and it means the film arrives in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets with studio backing rather than relying on territory-by-territory sales after completion.

For Banderas, it also signals continued investment in Spanish-language and Spanish-set projects with directors he already trusts. He is repped by NuCo Media Group and Greenberg Glusker; Cohn and Duprat are repped by NuCo Media Group.

The March 2027 shoot date gives Cohn and Duprat a long runway for the film's technical ambitions — the 3D scanning of a working container ship is the kind of logistics-heavy preparation that rarely compresses. Expect further territory sales as HanWay continues conversations at the American Film Market.