Fulwell 73 moves into foreign language production

Fulwell 73 has partnered with Spanish producers Elcano for Boundless, a Spanish language high-end drama feature film and 3-part TV series.

Boundless tells the epic story of the first circumnavigation of the world by explorers Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan, who set sail from Spain over 500 years ago.

The epic film and connected series is directed by Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and stars Rodrigo Santoro (Westworld) as Magellan and Álvaro Morte (Money Heist) as Elcano.

Fulwell 73’s Leo Pearlman and Heather Greenwood are producers on the projects in partnership with Elcano’s Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga. Fulwell 73’s Patrick Fischer and Richard Kondal also serve as co-producers. ETB, Canal Sur and Gazprom-Media KIT Group are also partners on the project.

Shelly Johnson (Greyhound, Captain America: The First Avenger) is attached as director of photography.

Shooting on Boundless wrapped in August on location in Spain. Both projects are expected to be released in 2022 on Amazon Prime Video and Spanish broadcaster RTVE.

Boundless marks Fulwell 73’s expansion into international co-productions as its first ever Spanish language project. It also marks the latest in a line of new scripted projects from the company, as part of its expansion into this sector. Other upcoming releases include Cinderella for Amazon Prime Video, based on an original idea from James Corden, written and directed by Kay Cannon, starring Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, Pierce Brosnan being released September 3 as well as Dragged To Church, an inspiring and uplifting true story of a Welsh community that hosted a drag show to raise vital funds needed to bring their church back from disrepair being co-produced with Eve Myles’ (Keeping Faith) Empty Room Productions. Currently airing on CW commissioned series Republic of Sarah and recently optioned the rights to Helen Cresswell’s beloved children’s time travel novel Moondial to developed into a reimagined modern new TV franchise.

Leo Pearlman, partner at Fulwell 73, said: “Fulwell 73 has been steadily building and expanding into new areas as we grow our content output and this past year our strategy has to look focus on building a high-quality scripted slate and adding more international productions that can add to our track record in ground-breaking factual and entertainment programming. Boundless is an epic tale that allows us to do what we do best – find the most creative way of bringing a story to life whatever the medium – in this case via a feature film and TV series – which I think shows our ambition and desire to bring something unique and compelling to audiences around the world.”

Heather Greenwood, senior executive at Fulwell 73, said: “Boundless is a timeless, epic tale of adventure and discovery about the first ever journey around the world through the eyes of these two incredible explorers Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan. We’ve found a perfect partner in producer Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga to bring this truly epic story to life both as a feature film and a TV series working with an incredible cast and crew led by director Simon West. Boundless promises big action, beautiful locations and unforgettable story-telling and we can’t wait to bring this high-quality drama onto the big and small screens which we think will grip audiences across the world.”

Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga at Elcano, said: “This story is the most amazing adventure in the history of navigation, which has never before been told. Thanks to the 5th Centenary of this tale, we now have the perfect opportunity to tell this journey to the world. Three years full of adventures, mutinies, betrayals, death… this journey represents the first act of globalization. Working with Heather and Patrick has been such a pleasure and we’ve been able to combine our skills from Spain and the UK to create the perfect coproduction.”

Simon West, director, said: “Boundless has taken me four years of preparation followed by a year of shooting and post-production, all to bring the incredible story of Magellan and Elcano’s circumnavigation of the globe to the screen. That’s two years longer than the actual voyage. Therefore, I can easily relate to the epic task they faced. With a cast and crew of roughly the same size as our heroes’ expedition we encountered many of the same obstacles. Travelling great distances to exotic locations we faced extreme weather, illness and exhaustion, but thankfully not the terrible food – which probably accounts for the lack of any mutiny. As Captain of the Boundless project, I hope I have given the audience a taste of the action, terror and bravery of the crew who achieved the greatest navigational feat in history.”