[Newscast] 'The Impossible' Sweeps Past 'Titanic' at Spain Box Office

Dec 6, 2012 The Hollywood Reporter

Director Juan Antonio Bayona's drama has sold more than 5.6 million tickets and made 40 million euros in less than two months in theaters.

MADRID -- After leaping into Spanish film history as the all-time highest grossing domestic film, Juan Antonio Bayona's intense post-tsunami The Impossible -- with 5.6 million tickets sold -- smashed passed the box office earnings of James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic.

Since its Oct. 11 release and following five consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the national box office standings, Bayona's hyper-realistic depiction of the 2004 tsunami that swept Thailand has snagged 40 million euros at the box office.

Cameron's Avatar still sits ahead of the pack with 6 million tickets sold and 50.4 million euros earned.

Distributed in Spain by Warner Bros. Pictures, the drama stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in potential Oscar-nominated roles and is set for release in the U.S. on Dec. 21 through Summit Entertainment -- who came onto the project in the early stages.

Produced by Belen Atienza and Enrique Lopez Lavigne's Apaches Entertainment and Telecinco Cinema, the film branch of media giant Mediaset Espana, The Impossible has become a social phenomenon in Spain and a must for moviegoers thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign launched by Telecinco.

Alongside his commercial success in Spain, the film is making a big splash in the international market. Since its release in Thailand, the film sits in the top spot at the box office, while it stands just behind Twilight franchise closer Breaking Dawn in France, two weeks after its release.

Spanish cinema currently holds a 17.1 percent slice of the domestic market, two points more than last year at the same time, according to the Spanish producers' federation FAPAE.