Mario Casas takes over from Sandra Bullock in ‘Bird Box Barcelona’: this is the sequel to the Netflix phenomenon

After becoming a mass phenomenon, Bird Box: Blindly land in Spain. Among all the Netflix releases for this month of July, one that stands out in the film scene is Bird Box Barcelonathe sequel and spin-off of the feature film that starred Sandra Bullock.

It is set in the same timeline as the original film, where una A mysterious presence is depleting the world’s population and leading humans to their deaths if they decide to open their eyes.

Through the deserted streets of the city, Sebastian begins his journey of survival. Along the way he will meet other survivors with whom he will form uncertain alliances to try to escape the city. But soon they will realize that there is a new and unexpected threat even more dangerous.

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SERIES & MORE | EL ESPAÑOL spoke with the directors and screenwriters David and Alex Pastor (infected), and with the protagonists of the film Mario Casas (The bar), Georgina Campbell (Black Mirror) and diego bald (Babylon). They tell what it has been like to be part of this phenomenon, why it moved to Barcelona and who the real monsters in history are.

Mario Casas blindly

“I am one of the many who saw the film. And when they offered me the project, I said yes almost without reading the script before,” recalls Mario Casas. “Seeing the trip that Sebastián makes accompanied by his daughter and other characters… I’m happy to take over from Sandra BullockI have tried to do the best possible, and I hope she sees it and knows me”, he also expressed between laughs.

Regarding the character of Sebastián, Casas also wanted to find a link with Malorie (Bullock). “The two agree on the human relationship they have with their children. That’s where purity and truth come in, fighting to come back for yours. and i guess there is nothing you have to fight for more than for your children. It’s an inseparable relationship,” the actor said.

“The movie It catches you because it talks about something very primary. That you go out into the street and have to act all the time with your eyes closed… Living that way poses a different and extreme situation and with which it is very easy to empathize”he added.

A possible franchise

“The original film was very popular and successful. And the challenge was, first, explain a story set in the same world so that it had its own personality, point of view and history. And second, to create a film that could satisfy both fans of the original and those who know the film with Sandra Bullock, but at the same time stand on its own and that someone who hadn’t seen the original could enjoy and understand the same They are two very different types of public”, indicated Àlex Pastor.

“This idea that something as simple as opening your eyes can kill you, because you see something so unspeakable that you can’t do anything else, is incredibly stressful,” David Pastor defined. “The new one Bird Box try to connect with those feelings of anguish and stress that you had as a viewer the first time”.

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When thinking about the connection with the first film, Mario Casas also wanted to anticipate that the door to expanding this universe with more films has not been closed.

“Those who see the movie and see how it ends… Logically, the door is left quite open to what comes next, be it a movie or a series. It would be very interesting if there was a franchisewith three or four movies and that in the fifth they will bring together all the protagonistswith Sandra Bullock, Joaquin Phoenix…”, he ventured to imagine Casas.

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Diego Calva also thought about it. “It would be great if they did a Bird Box Mexico either Bird Box Colombiaand It would be great to see other spin-offs in other countries”he expressed.

The fear of trust

“For me the film was about survival, human relationships and how a group of people behaves in a bunker. Who takes control? Who is the good guy? There are two girls in there too… My character is more the observer, the one who watches from the outside how others behave in stressful situations. If we put ourselves on their feet, I think it brings out the best and the worst in human beings. In the end, it is those characters surviving among themselves, more than against the creatures”, described Mario Casas.

“There is something in fear and when you are afraid it is easy to be manipulated, but if you are off guard, which is what also happens in the film, people with fear suffer a lot, they don’t know what to do, they have no answer,” he added. “In that situation, I wouldn’t want to die first. I would try to go unnoticed, not attract attention and stay there, be nice. Go obeying and have a smile. The best option would be to observe the others and see the weak points. I would stay in the rear to survive.”thought.

“All the characters have to fight against their own fears and there comes a time when the real enemy is not even the monster, but the humans that surround you,” Diego Calva knew how to see.

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On the other hand, Georgina Campbell saw this situation in another way: “Well, I don’t trust too many people. And when I’m faced with something I’m always a little suspicious. And the dark seems to me to be quite a scary thing. I wouldn’t want to have to live in the dark for the rest of my life.”.

Why Barcelona?

“We are from here and we know it well”, answered Àlex Pastor to the question par excellence. “And one thing we wanted to do was transfer it to a city here, to the specificities of its geography, its topography, so that this would have an important role within the plot of the film. And for that you have to know the place well” .

“It is a film that portrays Barcelona and very specific things typical of here, but at the same time it avoids the biggest clichés that every tourist knows, such as La Pedrera or the Sagrada Familia. It seems to me that if we had set it in Madrid we would have fallen into those clichés, because I know her as a tourist. We wanted to do something that was specific where the local viewer is recognized like your own city and the spectator from outside discovers new spacesignoring the obvious ones,” he added.

“Maybe also for being able to shoot 20 minutes from my house. This is a bit like the Kubrick method, who wanted to shoot 20 minutes from his castle in England and forced himself to find a desert in England, where to shoot 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nearby are the anti-aircraft shelters from the Civil War,” said David Pastor.

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“Maybe it exists in Madrid, I don’t know, but since it’s your city you know it and you say ‘well, it would make sense that in the world of Bird Box, people would look for an anti-aircraft shelter that has no windows and is completely closed'”.

“In the end, the film is more about what unites us than about local differences”replied Àlex Pastor, to which David Pastor also replied: “One thing that we did want to do, differentiating ourselves from the original work, is that in this film, for example, there are no firearms beyond a specific moment. It is something that we all believed that it really reflected the reality here, which is not a reality like the American one, where they are armed to the teeth”.

However, Diego Calva was able to see that in the face of something like this, in reality, “we would all react the same, because we are human”.

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