Spanish public broadcaster RTVE has boarded “Blanco,” a high-profile feature directed by Félix Viscarret (“Patria,” “Under the Stars”) about the 1997 kidnapping and murder of Basque politician Miguel Ángel Blanco by terrorist organization ETA.
RTVE joins Netflix and Universal Pictures International Spain on the project, with Universal set to handle its theatrical distribution. The film is produced by Kiko Martínez’s Nadie es Perfecto (“The Bar,” “Perfect Strangers”) and Eduardo Carneros-led Euskadi Movie.
The combination of major industry partners, a subject of enduring significance in Spain and an anniversary release date gives “Blanco” the potential of becoming a major theatrical event.
Universal will open the film in Spanish cinemas on July 9, 2027, with the release timed around the 30th anniversary of the kidnapping and murder. Production is scheduled to begin on Oct. 5, 2026, with the cast set to be announced shortly.
Budgeted at €8 million ($9.2 million), “Blanco” will reconstruct the 48 hours that held Spain in suspense after ETA abducted Blanco, a 29-year-old councillor for the conservative Partido Popular in the Basque town of Ermua, in July 1997.
ETA demanded that the Spanish government transferred the organization’s prisoners to jails in the Basque Country, threatening to kill Blanco unless its conditions were met within two days. He was shot after the deadline expired and died on July 13.
The crime prompted an extraordinary wave of demonstrations across Spain and became a turning point in the country’s public response to ETA terrorism.
Drawing on extensive journalistic research and first-hand accounts, “Blanco” will follow the reporters who covered the kidnapping, the efforts to save Blanco and the aftermath of his murder. The project has the support of his family, represented by his sister María del Mar Blanco.
“Through the eyes of these journalists, we will meet people, many of them anonymous, who tried to stop the horror or prevent the suffering that followed from provoking still more violence,” Viscarret said.
“Although they may have believed at the time that they had failed, their acts of courage, compassion and responsibility helped transform the sensibility of a society, demonstrating that even in the darkest moments, human beings are capable of bringing out the best in themselves.”
Martínez said the film’s strength lies in placing viewers alongside those charged with reporting the crisis as it unfolded.
“Through their perspective, we will witness an event that shook the whole of Spanish society and changed the course of our recent history,” he said.
RTVE frames “Blanco” as part of its push into ambitious Spanish films tackling major events from the country’s recent history.
