Film Factory has picked up worldwide sales rights to “Operation Cronos,” a high-stakes thriller centering on the 2017 terrorist Barcelona attacks.
Produced by Nostromo, the shingle behind Netflix hit “Through My Window,” and Beta Fiction, a producer on Spanish box office breakout “Undercover,” “Operation Cronos” will be directed by Fernando González Molina. Molina’s credits include big canvas movies such as “Palm Trees in the Snow” and “The Invisible Guardian,” both from Nostromo.
“Operation Cronos” aims to plunge audiences into one of Europe’s darkest modern tragedies with unprecedented realism and intensity.
Unspooling in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 17, 2017, attacks in Las Ramblas, with a tense countdown format, it chronicles the relentless efforts and quiet heroism of elite Spanish security forces as they race to track down the terrorists responsible.
The film stars four-time Goya Award winner Eduard Fernández (“Marco,” “The 47”). Genre specialist Alberto Marini (“Retribution,” “Sleep Tight”) penned the screenplay. Principal photography begins on Sept. 24, with a planned release in 2026.
“’Operation Cronos’ is probably my most ambitious and complex film,” said González Molina. “The fact of relating real events and situations, so well-known by everyone, adds further complexity to the story, and requires an extra effort so as to be as faithful as possible to the facts.”
“Working with real characters, or ones based on existing people, demands special attention in the storytelling,” González Molina added. “And undoubtedly the enormous production challenge of portraying this paralyzed, deserted city, and the desperate hunt for the terrorists throughout Catalonia, will require a very demanding joint effort from the production, art and visual effects departments.”
“Undercover” shared best picture with “The 47” and won best actress (Carolina Yuste) at the 2025 Goya Awards. Nostromo is currently co-producing “Day Drinker” with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. It is also a co-producer on Russell Crowe-starrer “The Last Druid,” which will also shoot in Spain.
“We are very pleased to join this ambitious project by Fernando González Molina — based on a tragic and significant real event in Catalonia and Spain — together with Nostromo and Beta Fiction. We are convinced that ‘Operation Cronos’ will be a major international success,” said Film Factory Director Vicente Canales.
