{{Infobox film | name = Dying of Laughter | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|Muertos de risa|nolink=yes}} | image = Muertos de risa.jpg | director = Álex de la Iglesia | writer = {{ubl|Jorge Guerricaechevarría|Álex de la Iglesia}} | producer = Andrés Vicente Gómez | starring = {{ubl|Santiago Segura|El Gran Wyoming|Álex Angulo}} | cinematography = Flavio Martínez Labiano | editing = Teresa Font | music = Roque Baños | country = Spain | language = Spanish | runtime = 113 minutes | released = {{Film date|df=y|1999|03|12|Spain}} | budget = 530 million ₧ | gross = €6.3 million (Spain) | studio = Lola Films }} '''''Dying of Laughter''''' ({{langx|es|'''Muertos de risa'''|links=no}}) is a 1999 Spanish black comedy film co-written and directed by Álex de la Iglesia which stars Santiago Segura, El Gran Wyoming and Álex Angulo. The plot tracks the mishaps of a comedic duo formed by Nino and Bruno, who actually hate each other.<ref name=Alternative>{{cite book|title=Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945 |editor-first1=Ernest |editor-last1=Mathijs |editor-first2=Xavier |editor-last2=Mendik |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8kmu4hmTx4C&pg=PA27 |page=57 |chapter=Muertos de Risa: A Return to National Referents and Political Commentary |publisher=Wallflower Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1903364932 |access-date=October 21, 2023}}</ref>
== Plot == Nino and Bruno are two comedians who first meet each other in an Andalusian nightclub during the waning days of the Franco regime. When they discover that the audience enjoys their humor as a duo, they decide to become a comedic pair and quickly rise to stardom. Beneath their success and adulation, however, the pair develop an acrimonious relationship with each other.
== Cast == {{Cast listing| * Santiago Segura as Nino{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * El Gran Wyoming as Bruno{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Álex Angulo as Julián{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * {{ill|Carla Hidalgo|es}} as Laura{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Jesús Bonilla as military member in coup d'état{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * María Asquerino as Nino's mother{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * José María Íñigo as himself{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Uri Geller as himself{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Antonio Resines as himself{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Víctor Manuel as himself{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * Massiel as herself{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}} * {{ill|Alfonso Lussón|es}}<ref name="filmoteca">{{Cite web|access-date=2021-12-17|url=https://files.eke.eus/pdf/alex_de_la_iglesia.pdf|page=11|title=Álex de la Iglesia. Atzera begirakoa. Retrospectiva. Rétrospective|publisher=Euskadiko Filmategia. Filmoteca Vasca}}</ref> * Ramón Barea<ref name="filmoteca" /> }}
== Production == Produced by Lola Films and featuring the participation of Telecinco,{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/las-dos-caras-del-humor-espanol-nid44878/|website=La Nación|title=Las dos caras del humor español|date=14 December 2000|first=Diego|last=Batlle}}</ref> the film had a budget of 350 million Spanish peseta ({{circa|€3.2 million}}).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1999/03/03/cultura/920415613_850215.html|website=El País|title=Álex de la Iglesia da una visión esperpéntica de la transición española en "Muertos de risa"|first=Elsa|last=Fernández-Santos|date=3 March 1999}}</ref>
== Release == The film, which premiered on 12 March 1999 in Spain, grossed €6,299,097 at the Spanish box office, the second highest-grossing Spanish film of the year, behind ''All About My Mother''.{{Sfn|Buse|Triana Toribio|Willis|2007|p=184}}<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Screen International|date=13 October 2000|page=1|title=Homegrown hits sweep EU|first=Mary|last=Scott}}</ref>
== Awards and nominations == {{Awards table|5}} |- | align = "center" | 2000 || 14th Goya Awards || Best Supporting Actor || Álex Angulo || {{nom}} || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/muertos-de-risa/|website=Premios Goya|access-date=17 December 2021|title=Muertos de risa}}</ref> |}
== See also == * List of Spanish films of 1999
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == * {{cite book|first1=Peter|last1=Buse|first2=Núria|location=Manchester and New York|publisher=Manchester University Press|last2=Triana Toribio|first3=Andy|last3=Willis|year=2007|isbn=9780719071362|title=The cinema of Álex de la Iglesia}}
== External links == *{{IMDb title|168080}}
{{Álex de la Iglesia}}
Category:1999 films Category:1999 black comedy films Category:1999 Spanish-language films Category:Spanish black comedy films Category:Films directed by Álex de la Iglesia Category:Films scored by Roque Baños Category:Films with screenplays by Jorge Guerricaechevarría Category:LolaFilms films Category:Films set in the 1970s Category:Films set in the 1990s Category:Films about comedians Category:1999 Spanish films {{1990s-Spain-film-stub}} {{1990s-comedy-film-stub}}