Kinovision, the start-up production arm of Spanish distributor Araba Films, has added $40m drama The Devil's Beauty to its rapidly expanding English-language production slate.

Beauty, based on the novel by French writer Lauren Haloche and adapted by Enrique Urbizu, has been set up as a co-production with France's Orly Films and French producer Michele de Broca. De Broca also co-produced the $15m Cannes tipped The Old Man Who Read Love Stories with Kinovision and Australia's Magnetic Hall. According to Kinovision president Inaki Nunez, Beauty is also drumming up interest in the US.

Kinovision plans to board two $30m-$40m English-language and two $3m-$4m Spanish-language features a year following the moderate success of its first effort, Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate. The company has already boarded $10m English-language comedy Sabotage, starring David Suchet and Stephen Fry. The film, a co-production with France's Cine B, the UK's Spice Factory and Spain's Ibarretxe & Co. Producciones, recently wrapped in Spain.

Meanwhile Kinovision is also producing $4m Spanish-language black comedy Marujas Y Asesinas, scheduled crank up in September with Javier Rebollo directing. Spain's Lanzinema will co-produce the film which is set to star Antonio Resines, Neus Asensi and El Gran Wyoming.

Nunez has carved a niche for himself in Spain as an independent commercial distributor of about eight titles per year, released through twin houses Araba Films and Escarlata Films. Nunez began Araba as a producer in 1976 but switched to distribution in the early 1980s.