France’s Halley Production Boards Thriller ‘Carro Seco,’ About Killer Who Targets Unscrupulous Barcelona Real Estate Speculators (EXCLUSIVE)

Paris-based Halley Production has boarded Javier Polo’s feature film thriller project “Carro Seco” (“Carreau”), showcased at the upcoming Iberseries & Platino Industria’s Co-Production and Financing Forum in Madrid.

Halley Production is partnering on “Carro Seco” with València-based Los Hermanos Polo Films, which Polo runs with brother Guillermo Polo, and Lastcrit in Barcelona.

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Set in a Barcelona suffocated by the housing crisis and evictions, the contemporary urban thriller turns on an eccentric serial killer who executes wealthy real estate speculators using heavy metal pétanque balls. His targets are ruthless property owners who profit from the silent tragedy of housing displacement and eviction.

Dressed like a vintage pétanque player, the vigilante is driven by the social impact of gentrification. Casting himself as a housing Robin Hood, he justifies his crimes as acts committed for the common good.

As two detectives navigate the investigation, public opinion splits between viewing the murderer as a heroic housing vigilante or a psychopath.

“‘Carro Seco’ uses the tension of a psychological thriller to address one of today’s most urgent social conflicts: silent evictions and real estate speculation,” says Polo. “What sets it apart is the contrast between that social nightmare and a unique, ritualistic iconography; turning an innocent neighborhood sport like pétanque into a deadly weapon accompanied by French chanson. It is a film that challenges the viewer with an uncomfortable moral dilemma about justice, boundaries, and empathy.”

Halley Production’s international co-productions include such cross-border hits as Javier Fesser’s 2018 crowd-pleaser “Champions,” Manuel Gómez Pereira’s 2025 Goya-winning Spanish hit “The Dinner” and the forthcoming drama “Primo Viaggio.”

“From our very first meeting with Javier Polo, my associate and producer Corentin Koskas and I felt that ‘Carreau’ called for a genuinely organic Spanish-French co-production. Pétanque is part of a shared culture on both sides of the border and it provides the starting point for an original social thriller,” said Andrea Marcelli, a partner at Halley Production, which has backed multiple Spanish films in the past, including Icíar Bollaín’s ‘Rosa’s Wedding,” Javier Fesser’s “Champions” and “Ma Ma” by Julio Medem.

He added: “At the same time, the film’s portrait of Barcelona’s transformation through gentrification speaks just as powerfully to Paris and to so many other European cities. The French dimension is woven into the film’s very fabric, making this co-production a creative necessity. This is truly a film born at the crossroads of our two countries, with a clear ambition to reach audiences internationally.”

“‘Carro Seco’ is, by nature, an organic and logical co-production with France given its core story elements, and Halley’s extensive expertise in French-Spanish partnerships makes them the perfect partner to bring this film to life,” said producer Victoria Pérez de la Cruz of Los Hermanos Polo Films. Also producing are Javier Polo, Guillermo Polo, Víctor Cuadros and Guillem Moreno.

“Carro Seco” was written by María Mínguez, co-creator of the Fesser-directed Disney+ original Spanish comedy series “Shared Custody,” and Merli Marlowe, who co-wrote Javier Polo’s comedy documentary “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo.” Javier Polo’s works also include the comedy “Pet Peeves” and the music documentary “Europe in 8 Bits.”

The producers will be attending Iberseries & Platino Industria with the aim of finding key partners to assist in the film’s international rollout.

“Carro Seco” is aimed for a 2027 shoot. The cast has yet to be announced.

Anna Marie de la Fuente contributed to this article.