Janus Films has bought the North American and UK–Ireland rights to Y tu mamá también, Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 road film, and will put a new 4K restoration into cinemas in summer 2027, Deadline reported as an exclusive on Monday 26 October. The deal was negotiated with WME on behalf of the filmmakers. Neither side disclosed terms, and Janus had not listed the title on its own site by 17:25 CET.
Key facts
- Film: Y tu mamá también (Mexico, 2001), directed by Alfonso Cuarón, written with Carlos Cuarón.
- Buyer: Janus Films, all rights for North America and the UK and Ireland.
- Seller side: WME, on behalf of the filmmakers; terms not disclosed.
- Release: new 4K restoration, in cinemas in summer 2027.
- Original US release: IFC Films, in cinemas in March 2002 ($13.8m in the US and Canada, Box Office Mojo).
Deadline said the 4K restoration was made to mark the 25th anniversary of the film’s 2001 premiere, so the summer 2027 run will come 26 years after it first opened. Cuarón said in a statement carried by Deadline that the film “remains very close to me”, and that he was looking forward to showing it to “a new generation” while long-time viewers see it again in 4K.
Y tu mamá también follows two Mexico City teenagers, played by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, on a road trip to a remote beach with an older Spanish woman played by Maribel Verdú. Emmanuel Lubezki shot it. It won the best screenplay prize at Venice in 2001, and Alfonso Cuarón and his co-writer Carlos Cuarón were nominated for the original screenplay Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards. Cuarón has since won the directing Oscar twice, for Gravity and Roma, along with Oscars for editing Gravity and for the cinematography of Roma, which also won best foreign language film.
Y tu mamá también also sold well in the US for a Spanish-language film. IFC Films picked up North American rights in June 2001, shortly after the Mexican release, Variety reported at the time, and released it in US cinemas unrated in March 2002. Cuarón told The New York Times that year that he had tried for an R rating, “but I had to cut so much that it didn’t make much sense”. The film grossed $13.8m in the US and Canada, according to Box Office Mojo, and $33.6m worldwide across all releases.
The Criterion Collection, Janus’s sister label, released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in August 2014 as spine number 723, with a new restored 2K transfer supervised by Lubezki and approved by Cuarón, according to Criterion’s catalogue page. The Janus deal is for a new 4K version, and Deadline’s report does not say who carried out the restoration or whether a new disc edition will follow.
No dates or cinema partners have been announced for the UK and Ireland, where the latest weekend chart was led by Ghosts: The Possession of Button House.
Our reading
Anniversary reissues have become a dependable line for distributors that own or control libraries, from studio event re-releases such as the Endgame reissue to specialist outfits buying single titles for a restoration and a theatrical window. Janus taking both North America and the UK and Ireland, rather than one territory, suggests it is planning the release as one campaign, with the cinema run setting up later home-video and streaming sales.
What we don’t yet know is the shape of that campaign: the restoration house, whether the 2027 run is a few repertory venues or a wider release, and whether Mexico and other territories will follow with their own deals. The other test is whether young distributors, such as Australia’s newly launched Baby Jane, start bidding for restored catalogue titles alongside new films.