Fresh off the release of his fourth book, "El señor de los cielos" ("The Lord of the Skies"), Andrés López López, the former Colombian drug lord turned best-selling novelist and screenwriter, is now about to see his first novel hit the big screen. "El cartel de los sapos" ("The Snitch Cartel"), the new film adapted from the novel he wrote when he was serving time in a Miami prison, premieres on October 18 in major cities across the United States. And with the strength of the TV series' viewership already behind it, López and the other creators of the film are hoping it can make a big splash when it hits US theaters. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to catch a trailer of the movie.
"I think the series had a big impact because it was maybe the first series to deal with that universe, that world of drug traffickers, in a way that told it from inside it," he told the Latin Times. "I think the people who followed the series for so long will come to see the story done in a way that's a little more risqué, a bit more ambitious and cinematographic." But even if the name's association might let it catch on, he adds you don't have to have seen the series for it to get into the feature film. "The movie isn't a summary of the series. Totally the opposite, it's got its own scenes, its own life."
In it, Manolo Cardonas stars as Martín González, a teenager from humble beginnings who's long had his eye on Sofia (Jauna Acosta), a girl from the right side of the tracks. Trying to win her favor, he gets a foothold in the world of drug dealing, thinking it's the only way he can earn enough money to compete for her love. As he grows older, Martín gains greater weight within the cartel, which is one of the most powerful in Colombia - el cartel del Norte del Valle, or the "North Valley cartel" - with politicians on its payroll and military maneuvers in its playbook. But after his relationship with his best friend Pepe Cadena, who rises to the top of the organization after his kingpin brother Oscar is killed in prison, begins to deteriorate, and as Pepe grows increasingly suspicious of him, Martín finds himself ordered to remain in Mexico to supervise the smuggling routes into the United States. Longing to return to Sofia and fearing for her life - as he's in debt to the new drug lords back home -- he sees his opportunity to leave behind his drug dealing past and protect her by going undercover for the DEA.
Earlier this year, the Eugenio Derbez film "Instructions Not Included" smashed box office records for Spanish-language openings in the United States, grossing $3.4 million in its first weekend.
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