I Want You becomes year's best local film at Spanish box office

There were great expectations for I Want You (Tengo ganas de ti) and the film went beyond most optimistic predictions and sold more than 500,000 tickets in the first weekend and being by far the most successful opening for a Spanish film and the second of the year, after The Avengers.

The Warner Bros release of the Fernando Gozález Molina film based on the popular Federico Moccia novel surpassed the good results of the first part of the series, Three Steps Above Heaven, that reached $2.5m in the first weekend and went up to $12m being the highest grossing Spanish film of 2010.

Last weekend was hit hard by the European football competition since the Spanish team was playing against France for the semi finals. I Want You itself earned 65% of the total gross.

On Friday alone, I Want You grossed more than $2m, making the best Friday of the year over The Avengers. In the overall weekend, the film was released in 525 screens and hat an average of $7299.

The film follows the story of Hache (Spanish super star Mario Casas) a troubled young man who returns to Barcelona after a period in London to reunite with his ex first love Babi (María Valverde). The dynamic Gin (Clara Lago) also plays to his heart. A teenage drama with motorbike action sequences, it has a strong attraction for teenagers and younger audiences.

I Want You is a production of Zeta Cinema (Paco Ramos), Antena 3 (Mercedes Gamero) and Cangrejo Films and Globomedia Cine in collaboration with Antena 3, La Sexta and Canal Plus.

This is the third success for director Fernando González Molina after Braindead (2009) and Three Steps Above Heaven.

Imagina has already sold the film for Russia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.