Latin Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Bad Bunny’s agency Rimas Sports has signed 26-year-old Venezuelan baseball star Ronald Acuña Jr. The outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and the 2023 National League MVP, recognized in TIME magazine’s TIME100 Next list, has made significant impacts both on and off the field and has an exciting future ahead of him.A post shared by Rimas Sports (@rimas.sports)The agency is a partnership between the “Titi Me Pregunto” singer and executives Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda. Miranda, CEO of Rimas Sports, said in a press release, “We are thrilled to welcome the Acuña family to Rimas Sports. Ronald is a once-in-a-generation player, and we are confident that together we will take his extraordinary career to new heights.”“Acuña is aligned with Rimas Sports foundational principle of empowering the next generation of Latin American players by helping them build lasting legacies for themselves, their families, and their communities,” he continued.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buenos Aires-based production, sales and distribution company FilmSharks has picked up all worldwide rights to the new crime thriller by Argentina’s Sebastian Schindel, “A Silent Death” (Una muerte silenciosa”), to which it has sold Latin American theatrical rights to Disney’s Star Distribution, slated for release later in the year. Said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud: “This is likely to become one of the biggest Latin American films of the year.

Jamie Lang Buenos Aires-based production, sales, and distribution outfit FilmSharks is hosting a pair of market screenings for David Bisbano‘s animated feature “Dalia and the Red Book” at this year’s Marché du Film, and Variety has been given exclusive access to the first English-language trailer for the film. “Dalia” will screen twice at this year’s market, on Thursday, May 16, at 2:00 p.m. in Palais E and on Friday, May 17, at 9:30 a.m.

Jack Dunn Paramount+ has unveiled a teaser for its seventh “South Park” streaming special, “South Park: The End of Obesity,” which premieres May 24 in the U.S. and Canada, and May 25 in Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In “The End of Obesity,” weight loss drugs take the quiet mountain town of South Park by storm.

TelevisaUnivision said flagship streaming service Vix now has 50 million monthly active users, up 70% over this time last year.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Leading Spanish-language streaming service, ViX, has inked a first-look pact with Emmy-nominated Mexican actor-producer Juanpa Zurita and ARCO Entertainment Media, the shingle he co-founded in 2022 with Brenda Tubilla. The two-year deal, announced May 14 at TelevisaUnivision‘s 2024-25 Upfront presentation, grants ViX first-look rights to Zurita’s upcoming projects, which would include Spanish-language series and feature films.

Jamie Lang Uruguay’s José Ignacio International Film Festival (JIIFF) has launched the Pfeffer del Sur Fund, a $50,000 fund dedicated to supporting Ibero-American film projects. The Pfeffer Del Sur Fund, established by JIIFF’s primary benefactors, María and John Pfeffer, will be launched in January 2025 as part of the festival’s 15th anniversary edition. It will be awarded to one of the projects selected from the JIIFF Lab, part of the Working JIIFF industry program.

Christina Aguilera is taking a new direction with her music career.

Thania Garcia Seeker Music is expanding into Latin American and U.S.-based Latin music markets by partnering with Latin record label, artist management and entertainment company MITH Media. Seeker will jointly sign songwriters and artists, acquire and manage catalogs and develop new genre-focused IP and projects in tandem with MITH.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a big strategic market swing, The Mediapro Studio is creating new U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles to double down on U.S. and English-language production for the U.S.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy horror movie starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, has sold to one of France’s biggest distributors, Metropolitan FilmExport, ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The Match Factory is handling international sales on the female-powered movie, and MUBI just acquired the rights in North America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America and Benelux, where they will release the film theatrically this year. MUBI has also acquired the movie for Turkey and India.

Callum McLennan The seventh edition of the Quirino Awards, an annual event dedicated to promoting animation in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, saw Spain win five of the 10 awards on offer. Housed in the Teatro Leal, in the Canary Island’s Santa Cruz de Tenerife, an eclectic and, at times, musical gala concluded an upbeat Quirino Awards. Pablo Berger‘s first foray into animation, the Oscar-nominated “Robot Dreams,” continued its charge, winning awards for best feature film and sound design.

Christina Aguilera has officially signed to 5020 Records, leaving her longtime label RCA Records of 26 years, Variety can confirm. Fans have been speculating over the past few months that the powerhouse singer had parted ways with RCA, the label that she’s called home for the entirety of her career, after 5020’s logo appeared on her official website.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Uncork’d Entertainment has pre-bought multi-territory rights to upcoming Argentinian-produced action-horror film “Eyes of the Abyss” ahead of its showcase in Cannes next week. Uncork’d has picked up the film, which is currently in post-production, for North America, the U.K. and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Thania Garcia WME has signed Becky G for representation across all areas. All three of Becky’s full-length albums have debuted in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and she has been nominated for five Latin Grammys, including one for her and Karol G’s global collaborative smash “Mamiii.” Becky embarked on her first headlining tour last year after years of anticipation — she’s made countless key appearances at music festivals like Coachella and appeared as a guest act on tours with Katy Perry and Demi Lovato — and released her first regional Mexican and Mexican pop-infused album, “Esquinas.” In the last few months, the Inglewood, Calif.

Naman Ramachandran The 50-strong cohort for the fourth iteration of the TV Collective’s groundbreaking Breakthrough Leaders program has been unveiled. The initiative is in partnership with Fremantle, BBC Studios, Amazon, SKY, and ITV Studios. The program has identified and will empower 50 exceptional individuals from Black, Asian and global majority (a collective term for people of Indigenous, African, Asian, Latin American descent, who constitute some 85% of the global population) backgrounds who are poised to become the future leaders of the U.K.

The Chromatica Ball special is coming, after all!

Alex Ritman Mubi has kicked off its 2024 Cannes Film Festival early and in style, acquiring worldwide rights to one of the buzziest films set to premiere in competition. The arthouse distributor, production banner and streamer has landed Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance,” starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Denis Quaid, picking up all rights for North America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America and Benelux, where it will release theatrically this year. Mubi has also acquired the rights for Turkey and India.

Bad Bunny has arrived at the Met Gala red carpet!

Feid is giving fans the opportunity of a lifetime. The Colombian singer, who recently won big at the Latin American Music Awards, is partnering with Airbnb during their latest summer release, featuring a series of extraordinary experiences; including a stay inside the Ferrari Museum, a living room session with Doja Cat, a re-creation of the X-Men mansion, and so much more.Did Karol G confirm engagement with Feid during her latest concert?Feid and Karol G are the biggest winners at the Latin American Music Awards: The full list of winnerThis time Feid is opening the doors of his tour bus during his summer world tour FERXXOCALIPSIS.

Jennie Punter Spain’s push to position itself as a premier player in the world’s film and TV industries extends to the documentary zone, as both audiences and industry delegates discovered in the impressive display of the country’s finished and work-in-progress films and co-production know-how at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival this week. According to the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Yearbook 2023/2024, Spain is the European leader in documentary production, with 153 films in 2022 (Italy was second with 137, Switzerland third with 83)—a sign that Spain’s €1.6 billion public investment in the strategic sector, intended to spur production growth for the 2021-2025 period, has taken root in the doc space.

Anitta didn’t think much about her death. Despite growing up in the notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian multi-hyphenate just knew that her life would be as glamorous as she always imagined: she would sing, dance and act her way to global stardom.

Selena Kuznikov John Leguizamo has portrayed a wide range of characters in his career, from comic book villains to Shakespearean legends to drag queens. Despite his versatility, fans have never seen him as dark and unsettling as he is in the new TV series “The Green Veil.” His portrayal of the 1950s FBI agent Gordon Rogers was already rattling audiences after the premiere of the first four episodes of the new drama at Variety‘s TV FYC Screening Series on April 26 in West Hollywood. Following the screening, one fan revealed that it was difficult to witness Leguizamo’s character inflict trauma after trauma and asked how he managed to act out the scripted atrocities.

Neslihan Atagül Doğulu is one of the most influential Turkish actresses today, transcending to international audiences far beyond her country’s borders. Best known for her role in Kara Sevda, a drama series with a presence in more than 110 countries, her performances have enchanted a devoted fan base across Latin America—a region where ‘telenovelas’ reign and are an essential part of the culture.

Latin artists are a powerful force in music.

Ricky Martin will be kicking off Pride Month in a major way!

Thania Garcia Karol G and Feid took home the most awards during the 2024 Latin American Music Awards in Las Vegas on Thursday night. Though Karol didn’t attend the ceremony in person, she won six awards, including artist of the year and album of the year for her 2023 record “Mañana Será Bonito.” The album won album of the year at the Latin Grammys and was the urban album of the year at the Anglo Grammys.

Jack Dunn GKIDS and European animation distributor Anime Ltd. have acquired global rights to Naoko Yamada’s new film “The Colors Within.” GKIDS has acquired the film for North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, while Anime Ltd. has acquired the film for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and all of Europe.

Jamie Lang Colombian producer Letrario and Spain’s Abano Producións have unveiled a new 2D animated feature co-production, “Mu-Ki-Ra,” which will be spotlighted at the 2024 Cannes’ Marché du Film Animation Day. “Mu-Ki-Ra” was created by Colombian actress and screenwriter Estefanía Piñeres Duque, who co-wrote the screenplay with María Barro Guntín and is directing.

Selena Kuznikov Lourdes Portillo, filmmaker of the 1994 documentary “The Devil Never Sleeps” and a visual artist, investigative journalist and social activist, died Saturday in her San Francisco home. She was 80. Portillo focused her work on writing, directing and producing film and videos that centered the emotions and circumstances of Latin American, Mexican and Chicano experiences.