Santiago Segura’s comedy Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis has blown away the competition and set new records as it amassed an incredible $20m in its first week at the Spanish box office up to Mar 20.

Segura wrote, directed and stars in Torrente 4, as he did in the previous three instalments of the franchise, which began in 1998 and tells of a racist, sexist, homophobic police officer who gets into trouble.

Torrente 4 broke all Spanish box office records for a local film in its opening weekend (Mar 11-13) as it took $12m (€8.4m) through Warner Bros on 665 copies, overtaking the previous instalment of Torrente, which grossed $8.7m in the opening weekend and amassed $15m by the end of its first full week in 2005.

It is also worth noting that Torrente 4 outperformed Juan Antonio Bayona’s horror The Orphanage, Spain’s biggest ever local box office hit ($36m), which took $8.3m in the opening weekend and $15m after the first week in October 2007, also through Warner Bros.

“If the film reaches $30m or more it would be incredible,” Segura admitted to ScreenDaily. “It has already exceeded my expectations and I’m really proud of the film and what its achieved, especially in such a tough market.”

The film is produced by Antena 3 Films, Amiguetes Entertainment and Bowfinger Films. Film Sharks International has international sales rights to Torrente 4 and New Line holds options for a US remake to Torrente, while La Petite Reine holds the same for France. 

As for a Torrente 5, Segura feels confident that with the right idea there could be potential for another episode. “You should give the public what they want,” he said.

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