Director Gabriela Tagliavini
Los Angeles, CA – LA-based writer/director Gabriela Tagliavini’s comedy How To Break Up With Your Douchebag (Como Cortar a Tu Patan) reached #1 at the Mexican box office this weekend and set a new record for 2017, beating Blade Runner 2029 for the top spot. The film made $40 million Mexican pesos ($2.12 million dollars) during its opening weekend in 1,200 screens, giving it the highest box office total for the year in the country, according to comScore and easily recouping its budget of $30 million pesos ($1.59 million dollars).
The comedy, which takes its cue from other highly successful femme-centered laffers, including Bridesmaids and Trainwreck, centers on Amanda (Mariana Trevino) who makes a living from helping other women break off destructive relationships who then devices a ploy to get her sister (Camila Sodi) to break it off with her own douchebag (Sebastian Zurita) and fall in love with Leo (Christopher Von Uckermann).
“Most women have dated a douchebag at least once in their dating career and there are around 130 million women living in the United States… so that’s an awful lot of douchebags,” Tagliavini joked.
The film represents another significant achievement for the award-winning director, who also helmed Disney’s hit comedy Ladies’ Night, which was the the top-grossing film in 2004 in all Mexico. Tagliavini has also directed six other films, including Without Men starring Eva Longoria, Kate del Castillo and Christian Slater, and Border Run starring Sharon Stone, Miguel Rodarte and Billy Zane.
The success of this film and other recent domestic productions, including 2016’s Que Culpe Tiene El Niño? and 2013’s Instructions Not Included, has helped to justify a massive growth in the number of theaters across the country. It may also suggest a shift away from the near absolute choke-hold from Hollywood blockbusters.
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