Lara preps Mexican battle epic

HUELVA, Spain -- Mexico's Rafa Lara ("La Milagrosa," "Labios rojos") is set to direct "5 de mayo: la batalla," re-creating Mexico's 1862 Battle of Puebla.The war film is budgeted at $5.5 million, uses 5,000 members of Mexico's armed forces and is backed to the hilt by Mexico's State of Puebla, which has put up $2.5 million."5 de mayo" weighs in as the latest in a string of sweeping and high-end -- for Mexico -- historical dramas produced in Mexico over the last couple of years, further confirming the raised ambitions of Latin American filmmakers.Written by Lara and producer partner Francisco Gallastegui, "5 de mayo" covers the December 1861 invasion of Mexico by Emperor Napoleon III's troops.It also takes in the destruction of Mexico's elite Oaxaca Battalions, victims of a massive gunpowder explosion, the May 4 ambush of Mexico's conservative forces, who supported the invasion, and, in the film's final third, the Battle of Puebla itself, Lara said at Huelva's Co-Production Forum. In the battle, 4,000 Mexicans under the 33-year-old General Ignacio Zaragoza, low on guns and ammunition and some armed only with stones, defeated 5,000 crack French troops. Repelled, Napoleon III shelved plans to drive through Mexico and unite with Confederate Forces in the American Civil War, Lara said."5 de mayo" is set up at Gala Films, Lara and Gallastegui's Mexico City shingle. Mexico's state-owned Estudios Churubusco is co-producing, investing $1 million in services. Private investors are committing a further $500,000, Gallastegui said."5 de mayo" will roll early 2012, in time for Puebla's 150th anni celebrations, he added.Lara demonstrated his action movie directing chops in the 2006-shot "La Milagrosa," about the abduction of a well-to-do Colombian by FARC guerrilla forces. He also created and co-helmed Latino TV series "At the Edge of the Law," this year's serial-killer thriller "The 5th Commandment," now closing major territories sales for Latido, and sex comedy "Labios rojos," whose U.S. release, simultaneous to Mexico's, notched up $136,163 for Lionsgate through Oct. 28. Both "Commandment" and "Labios" screen at Ventana Sur, which kicks off Friday."Puebla was Mexico's most glorious battle," Lara said. "At such a sad time for Mexico, '5 de mayo' talks about a victory, a source of pride." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com