Trivia / Alatriste (2006)

• Acclaimed Flop: Relatively. Alatriste was the most expensive Spanish-language film ever made in Spain at the time (surpassed only by Agora in 2009), costing €24 million (about US$30 million), but it only made €16 million, with box office abroad made it stronger with an extra €18 — thing is, this was and still is actually a lot in the Spanish filmic industry. By comparison, although critics had a lot to criticize about it, the film was still nominated for almost every category in the Goya Awards, eventually winning three of them.
• Actor-Shared Background: The Basque Íñigo is portrayed by Basque actor Unax Ugalde.
• Approval of God: Contrary to a certain popular belief that Pérez-Reverte hated the film, he actually loved it, calling it "a fierce film, with all the characters being recognizable" and also approved Mortensen's performance, seeing it as an excellent portrayal of the character.
• Creator Backlash: Roque Baños, the man behind the film's soundtrack, was unhappy that director Díaz discarded his theme for the Battle of Rocroi at the last moment and replaced it with a traditional Spanish Easter song.
• The Danza: Luis Zahera plays Luis Pereira, while Francisco Tous plays Francisco de Melo.
• Deleted Scenes: Apparently, there was a full hour of deleted footage cut from the film.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Spaniard Alatriste is played by Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen. Ironically, in the books Íñigo acknowledged to the reader that he didn't know Alatriste's actual birth place, and even speculated he might not be Spanish after all (though it is still unlikely that Alatriste was either Danish or British).
  • Pereira, the Spanish soldier of Portuguese origin, is played by Luis Zahera, who is fully Spanish (although he hails from Galicia, which has a lot of historical connections to Portugal, including its language and ethnicity).
  • English actor Simon Cohen plays Philip IV of Spain. Conversely, Spaniards Javier Mejía and Quim Vila play the Brits Charles I and the Duke of Buckingham.
• Romance on the Set: Mortensen hooked up with Ariadna Gil (who plays Alatriste's lover María de Castro) and they have been together since.
• What Could Have Been:
  • According to Reverte, he was once approached by two Hollywood execs who wanted to do a film adaptation, only with poor Alatriste being left in the gutter in favor of a Canon Foreigner who would be his amoral girlfriend. At the end of the film, apparently, this new character would have risen up to become Queen of Spain.
  • It's also said Antonio Banderas was once attached to the project.
  • Gael García Bernal was considered for Íñigo.
  • The character of Constable Saldaña was meant to be played by Antonio Resines, but the latter broke his leg in a car accident and had to be replaced by Francesc Garrido. Resines still makes a cameo as a Spanish soldier in the Battle of Rocroi.

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