Yesterday a captivating Spanish-language teaser for Juan Antonio Bayona‘s The Impossible (Summit, 10.11.12) surfaced on YouTube. I haven’t yet found an English-language version but it hardly matters. It feels spooky and mystical, and looks fantastic. Summit’s decision to wait until the fall obviously means they think it’s much more than an FX popcorn film about the ’04 Asian tsunami.

A little more than four months ago I passed along information about The Impossible straight from Bayona.

“I can only say that we’re on schedule and working really hard on the editing and visual effects. We finished principal photography last February and did three weeks of technical shooting (scale models and water) in June. The film will be completed in early 2012.” Summit acquired domestic rights in May 2010.

The Impossible is a true account of a family swept up in the tsunami that slammed into the coast of Thailand and neighboring countries seven-plus years ago. Naomi Watts and Ewan Macgregor are the stars. Tom Holland, Gitte Julsrud and Marta Etura costar.

Bayona’s last film, The Orphanage, is one of the great adult horror films of the 21st Century. The same team that worked on The Orphanage (writer, production manager, cinematographer, composer and editor) have reunited for this.

The Impossible was largely shot in Alicante, Spain and on location in Phuket, Thailand, beginning in the vicinity of May 2010.

Bayona has allegedly described it as an “ambitious, high-quality European film” which will be “competitive on an international market.”