‘The Footballest II,’ a Live Action Family Movie Adapting the Hit Children’s Book Saga, Pounced on by Filmax (EXCLUSIVE)

Looking to IP and the resilient market for live action family fare, Filmax has swooped on kids adventure caper "The Footballest II," the second big-screen adaptation tapping into the children's book saga created by Spain's Roberto Santiago which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

"The Footballest and the Mystery of the Pirate Treasure" will be released in Spain by Filmax in the summer of 2025. First-look images of the family film will be shown at next week's American Film Market in Las Vegas.

To date, the book series has been adapted and published in north of 20 countries, including France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece, The Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Algeria, Iran and Turkey, among others.

"The Footballest and the Mystery of the Pirate Treasure" follows up the breakout hit "The Footballest," adapting Santiago's story "The Mystery of the Sleeping Referees," which grossed €3.4 million ($3.8 million) at Spanish cinema theaters, released in 2018 by Paramount Pictures International. That put it into the Top 10 of biggest Spanish box-office earners of the year. Netflix swooped on the title in March 2020, just before the pandemic hit Spain.

Directed once more by Miguel Angel Lamata ("Our Lovers"), "The Footballest II" responds to the entire book saga concept of delivering madcap adventures of a bunch of tween friends, Pakete and his inseparable buddies at Soto Alto soccer club. Boys and girls who go to the same school they have made a pact that, whatever happens, they will always be friends and play soccer together.

In "The Footballest and the Mystery of the Pirate Treasure," Soto Alto has lost their pitch, thanks to a property development scam. The team is now threatened by demotion and dissolution unless they win their final match against the fearsome Los Justos, from the local reform school.

As their parents unite to battle the dastardly scam which has brought their town to financial ruin, the team is embroiled in a mysterious bank robbery. It will be Almudena, leader of Los Justos, however, who proves key to solving Soto Alto's problems.

Written by Bárbara Alpuente ("Tell Me How It Happened"), "The Footballest II" is produced once more by José Alberto Sánchez, from Chester Media Producciones ("Visitor") and Fernando de Miguel, from Wandermoon ("Pocoyo"), in co-production with Misterio Pirata AIE and Colombian production house Take One.

It has scored a full-flush of TV acquisitions in Spain, by public broadcaster RTVE, pay-TV/SVOD operator Movistar Plus+ and regional state TV Telemadrid.

"After the success of the first 'The Footballest' film in theaters, SVOD and TV, and especially because of the literary phenomenon behind the franchise and the insistence of its fans, we decided to produce the second," said De Miguel. "In this outing, there is more adventure, more mystery and new characters which give an extra boost to the saga. The film boasts a contemporary visual language, agile and dynamic direction, first-rate visual effects and standards of quality that are comparable to the very best international productions."

"All of us who are parents will be well aware of the many hours of peace and quiet we've been able to enjoy while our children pored over the books from 'The Footballest' collection," recalled Filmax Head of International Iván Díaz.

"It is truly exhilarating for us to have in our hands one of the most successful IPs to come out of Spain in recent years: a family film packed with fun and adventure that we think will do really well at the box office," he added.