David Farnor | On 07, Sep 2018

YouTube Premium has snapped up the streaming rights to Gael García Bernal’s Museo.

The heist thriller, which had its US premiere at Toronto International Film Festival yesterday, will become the subscription service’s first Spanish-language original movie.

The film is inspired by Mexico’s most infamous cultural heist, when two men stole 140 priceless Mayan and Meso-American artefacts from the the National Anthropology Museum on Christmas Eve 1985. Garcia Bernal stars as Juan Nunez and Leonardo Ortizgris stars as Benjamin Wilson, two thirty-somethings who are struggling to get their lives together. Alfredo Castro joins them as Dr. Nunez, Juan’s father, while Simon Russell Beale plays rare art dealer Frank Graves.

Co-produced and co-financed by Panorama Global, Ring Cine, Detalle Films, Distant Horizon and Serendipity Point Films, the film is directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios (Gueros), who co-wrote it with Manuel Alcalá (Bellas de Noche).

“Museo began over a decade ago, with a faint memory of a Christmas museum heist in the 80s. Research and word of mouth quickly laid out a vast story that spread far beyond Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology,” said Alonso Ruizpalacios in a statement.  “It had the perfect mix of narrative and anecdotal elements and I’m incredibly excited to collaborate with the talented Gael Garcia Bernal and YouTube to bring this Mexican tale to life and share it with the world.”

“As our first-ever Spanish language YouTube Original movie, Museo is one of the many exciting projects we have in the pipeline as we embark to expand our slate with more original series and movies in Spanish,” commented Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content, YouTube.

“We are extremely grateful to be working with such a talented director, cast and creative group of producers and executive producers to share this story globally.”

Museo premiered earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and was also nominated for a Gold Bear for Best Film. It will released on YouTube Premium following a US cinema release this year. The deal follows YouTube Premium’s launch internationally, with the subscription service now available in the UK, as well as the USA,Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland and more.

Here’s a trailer: