AGC International Rolls Out ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Around World

LOCARNO, Switzerland — AGC International is closing a slew of major distribution deals in key markets worldwide on ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman,’ starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna and Tonatiuh, ahead of the film’s international premiere Saturday at the Locarno Film Festival.

Written and directed by Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls”), “Kiss of the Spider Woman’s” distributors take in Eagle Pictures (Italy), Roadshow Pictures (Australia and New Zealand) and BF Distribution (Latin America), Mis Label (Scandinavia), Cinemundo (Portugal) and Ascot Elite (Switzerland).

Among other distributors: Tanweer (Greece, Cyprus and Turkey), AQS (Czech Republic, Slovakia), KCS (ex-Yugoslavia), PT Falcon (Indonesia), Shaw (Singapore), Lionsgate (India) and Echo Lake for airlines, excluding the U.S.

AGC International handles international sales on “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” WME and CAA Media Finance co-repped U.S. rights. North American rights were acquired by Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and LD Entertainment after the film’s standout Sundance debut. A theatrical release is scheduled for Oct. 10.

“These distributors already form a strong base for the film’s overseas rollout and, with most international distributors planning to launch the film in the awards season corridor of late 2025 and early 2026, we’ll be announcing further distribution deals in many other territories over the coming weeks buoyed by the strong marketing materials and buzz coming out of the U.S.,” AGC Studios CEO and Chairman Stuart Ford told Variety.

Deal discussions are at an advanced stage in the U.K. and France and seem likely to close in the coming weeks, he added.

Distribution deals secured to date account for half the world’s major markets.

Robust reactions around the globe are hardly surprising. Described by AGC Studios as a “dazzling Technicolor-hued fantasy,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” also stars Diego Luna (“Andor,” “Y tu mama también”), playing Valentín, a political prisoner at an Argentine detention center in 1983, under a dictatorship which tortured and killed a calculated 14,000 detainees. Molina (Tonatiuh), a window dresser convicted of public indecency, is assigned to his cell. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez).

The 2025 movie also mines a rich vein of creativity, being based on both the same titled novel by Argentina’s Manuel Puig, written when he was at the top of his exuberant powers, fusing political reference and pop culture. It also adapts the 1993 Broadway musical of the same name by playwright Terrence McNally (“Master Class,” “Ragtime”) and composer-lyricist team John Kander and Fred Ebb (“Cabaret,” “Chicago”).

“The Kiss of the Spider Woman” was hailed as the most buzzed up of titles at this year’s Sundance Festival. In his review, Variety’s Peter Debruge notes that with it, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” “cunningly (and stunningly) morphs back to the big screen, courtesy of ‘Dreamgirls’ director Bill Condon.” “Here we get no less a diva than Lopez smoldering in a three-pronged role (“Ingrid Luna,” “Aurora and the Spider Woman”).” The title number “features Lopez at her most fabulous,” he adds.

“Lopez ensures a broader audience. Bill Condon’s films as a writer or director have enjoyed huge crossover appeal,” Ford noted.

Indeed, Condon features in a select group of writer-directors whose movies have scored over $3 billion at the global box office.

“Beauty and the Beast” grossed $1.27 billion, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” $712.5 million, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” $848.6 million,” “Chicago,” which he wrote, $306.8 million, and “Dreamgirls” $155.5 million.

Companies releasing “Kiss of the Spider Woman” are among the best of their class, distributing films ranging from Academy Award nominees and winners to blockbusters, robust commercial plays and prestige fest hits. Roadshow Pictures, for instance, released “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” “The Beekeeper,” starring Jason Statham, and Edward Berger-directed “Conclave”; BF Distribution bought both “The Substance” and “Emilia Perez,” Cannes 2024 standouts.

An Artists Equity and Mohari Media presentation, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is a Josephson Entertainment/Tom Kirdahy/ Greg Yolen/Nuyorican production. Artists Equity and Mohari Media financed the film. 

“Our partners Artists Equity and Mohair Media tasked us with putting them in business with top tier specialty players in each market that can position the film correctly – prestige-driven releases are a global strategic exercise these days,” Ford commented.

Locarno: ‘Prestige, Elegance and Plenty of Press’

Having premiered in Sundance earlier this year, the film was ineligible for Venice, which takes world premieres only, or Toronto. 

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” now celebrates its international premiere on Saturday Aug. 16 as the closing night film at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, Europe’s biggest first-half-of-August film event. “Kiss” will close Locarno with an open-air screening at the town’s legendary Piazza Grande, its main square, which seats 6,500 spectators.

“The Piazza Grande is as visually stunning and electrifying a venue as you’ll find at any festival in the world and it just seemed a great fit with this film’s heightened sense of drama and cinematic flamboyance,” Ford told Variety.

The Locarno premiere also forms part of a carefully calibrated build to the U.S. opening and a strategic global roll-out.

“The late summer timing of Closing Night also jives nicely with the U.S. marketing campaign kicking into gear ahead of a relatively early October release,” Ford noted.

He added: “Locarno offers prestige, elegance and plenty of press attention at what is a much less crowded selection than most festivals in the awards season corridor. It also acts as a litmus test for international critical response that fuels our discussions with upscale distributors eyeing an early 2026 release.”