Belen Rueda toplines thriller 'Body'

MADRID -- Top Spanish B.O. draw Belen Rueda is attached to star in "The Body," the latest thriller from Barcelona's Roday y Rodar, producers of "The Orphanage" "Julia's Eyes" and "PX3D." Rueda toplined "Orphanage" and "Eyes." Directed by Oriol Paulo, who wrote "Julia's Eyes," the Euros 4.6 million ($6.4 million) "Body" turns on a detective who investigates the disappearance of a woman's body from a morgue. A storm traps him there with the deceased's husband -- whom he suspects of foul play -- as strange phenomena occur. Rueda plays the woman in flashbacks. Jose Coronado -- who was applauded for his visceral perf in B.O. hit "No Rest for the Wicked" -- limns the inspector. Hugo Silva ("Sex, Parties and Lies") is the husband. Rodar and Antena 3 Films produce. DeAPlaneta Intl. has acquired international rights outside Spain. Sony Pictures Releasing de Espana will distribute the pic in Spain. "'The Body' is a mystery thriller reviving classic genre elements that are given a highly contemporary tone and treatment," said Rodar y Rodar producer Joaquin Padro. Pic rolls Jan. 16. "Body" heads DeAPlaneta's AFM slate alongside "Blind Alley," which is directed by "The Devil's Backbone" scribe Antonio Trashorras. Another new title on the company's slate, Harvard-set frat pack gross-out pic "Brain Drain 2," has been acquired by France distrib Zylo. The original pic, "Brain Drain," grossed $9.6 million in Spain in 2009, and closed France, South Korea, Latin America and Brazil. Acquired for Spain by UPI, which releases it Dec. 2, "Brain Drain 2" guest stars David Hasselhoff. Another DeAPLaneta pick up, "Operation E," went into production Oct. 20. The thriller from director-writer team Miguel Courtois and Antonio Onetti ("Wolf," "GAL") toplines Luis Tosar ("Miami Vice," "Even the Rain") as a Colombian peasant who risks being shot for exiting the FARC guerrilla zone and incarceration by the government, so as to get a small boy to a hospital. Tosar and Farruco Castroman's ZircoZine produces with Cristina Zumarraga's start-up Tormenta Films and Ariel Zeitoun's Ajoz Films in France. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com