Spanish Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Ana de Armas and Karol G are making fans feel represented on Saturday Night Live. The pair are set to make their debut on the popular show, with the Cuban/Spanish actress hosting the upcoming episode, and the Colombian singer getting ready to take the stage as a musical guest.The pair introduced themselves in Spanish during the latest promo of SNL, marking this as the first all-Spanish language preview for the show. They were accompanied by Bowen Yang and Marcello Hernandez, who also showed their bilingual skills.“Hi, I’m Ana de Armas and I will be hosting SNL this week with musical guest Karol G,” the actress said in Spanish.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spanish titles at MipTV: “The Argonauts and the Golden Coin,” (RTVE) A live action kids adventure, targeting 8-12s, from national public broadcaster RTVE and Galician powerhouse Portocabo (“Hierro,” “Rapa”) as RTVE drives into regional co-production. Set over a summer in Galicia and inspired by the spirit of “The Famous Five” and “The Goonies,” translated to the 21st century.  “The Caravan,” (Cabal Films) Selected for the inaugural MipDoc International Buyer Screenings, a first-person account of an eight-month pregnant woman in a caravan of Central American immigrants heading to the U.S. 

Emiliano Granada Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales studio Filmax, producer of the original “The Red Band Society,” has taken on international sales on its own production “Dating in Barcelona,” which is backed by Amazon Prime Video and Catalan public network TV3.  An exclusive promo of the six-episode series will be unveiled at MipTV, underscoring how Filmax has consolidated in a matter of years on Spain’s independent production of scene whose ecosystem has solidified during the so called Golden Age of the streamers. Filmax now intends to keep up its momentum despite more general slowdown.   Minimalistic in concept, the series does what its title promises, delivering in 50-minute episodes a deep exploration of modern day dating using a multifaceted Barcelona as its background, capturing not only its plush architecture but nooks and crannies. 

Ana de Armas is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, and teamed up with musical guest Karol G and cast members Bowen Yang and Marcello Hernandez in a special promo segment.

making it easier for transgender people to change their gender without having to undergo medical interventions.According to the Spanish newspaper Diario Sur, Moreno left the adult film industry six years ago and moved to the area with his partner.He worked as a forest firefighter for the public company GEACAM in Castilla-La Mancha. During that time, he developed an affection for the village of Carcelén, where he had hidden family ties.“I was born in the city of Albacete but when I arrived here I fell in love with this village and its natural environment, which is spectacular,” Moreno said.

Roy Trakin When Varietychose to honor Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) founder Raúl Alarcón with its Legends & Groundbreakers Award at its Miami Entertainment Town event on April 13, it picked the perfect person to fit that definition.  Among SBS’ 22 stations in the leading eight Latin markets are New York’s WSKQ-FM (Mega 97.9), the most-listened-to and streamed outlet in the U.S. in any language, Miami’s No. 1 station WXDJ-FM (El Nuevo Zol 106.7) and WCMQ-FM (Zeta 92.3) as well as L.A.’s top-ranked KXOL-FM (Mega 96.3) and KLAX-FM (97.9 La Raza), the first FM station to program regional Mexican music such as Norteñas and Banda, which once famously beat out an incredulous Howard Stern in morning ratings on KLSX. 

Social media was quick to champion Ben Affleck for his ability to speak Spanish after the actor went viral for his linguistic capabilities. While promoting his new film "AIR,"which explores the relationship between Nike and Michael Jordan, Affleck discussed how he got Jordan on-board with the project while speaking with Spanish radio network "Cadena Ser."  In the interview posted to TikTok, Affleck solely speaks Spanish, much to the Internet's disbelief. "He is very well-spoken [sic] in Spanish… who knew," one user commented.

Ben Affleck's a jack of all trades, and apparently a master at all of them!The 50-year-old actor wowed the world recently when he flawlessly gave an interview in Spanish to promote , the biopic about Nike's groundbreaking collaboration with Michael Jordan (now in theaters). A snippet of the interview, conducted by the radio station, , made the rounds on social media, and just about everyone was blown away at how deftly and eloquently he spoke in Castilian Spanish, perhaps as an homage to Spain, home of the radio station that conducted the interview.During the interview, Affleck spoke about the reason why the NBA legend was not cast in the film, as well as the three things that were most important to Jordan if Affleck was to move forward with the making of the film.

Ben Affleck may be the new Benito. The actor and filmmaker is fluent in Spanish, and he showed off his impressive skills in an interview for a La Cadena SER, a radio network in Spain.

told ¡Hola! magazine Wednesday that the baby girl’s dad is her late son, Aless Lequio García, 27, who died from cancer in 2020.“This girl isn’t my daughter, she’s my granddaughter,” she told the outlet of baby Ana Sandra. “This was Aless’ final wish, to bring a child of his own into the world.”Prior to her son’s death, Obregón said Aless was encouraged to preserve samples of his sperm before beginning cancer treatment after wanting to be a father.The samples were frozen and stored in New York, she said, as surrogacy of any kind is an illegal practice in Spain.The actress said the baby was conceived in June 2022 and born on March 20, 2023, in Miami.A post shared by Ana_Obregon Oficial (@ana_obregon_oficial)The child will be registered at the Spanish consulate in the US before the pair fly to Madrid.Taking to Instagram, Obregón shared a photo of her ¡Hola! magazine cover alongside a heartfelt message to her late son.“My Aless, I swore I would save you from cancer and I failed you.

A heated debate in Spain triggered by a 68-year-old celebrity who was reported to have used a surrogate mother in Miami to have a baby took a twist when the woman revealed the girl is actually the daughter of her son who died of cancer in 2020. Actress and presenter Ana Obregon told magazine Hola! that doctors had encouraged her son, Aless Lequio Garcia, to preserve samples of sperm before he began treatment and that he expressed a desire just before dying to have a child. She said the samples were stored in New York.

Ben Affleck knows an impressive amount of Spanish. The actor showed off some of his jokes while on the red carpet for his new film, “Air.” The cameras captured the moment as Affleck talked about the gossip program “El gordo y la flaca,” jokingly requesting them to stop making up lies. Ben Affleck talks about Jennifer Lopez’s love of ‘Yellowstone’Ben Affleck’s sweet tribute to Jennifer Lopez at ‘Air’ premiere: ‘You mean the world to me’The program shared the moment in one of their Instagram stories, showing Affleck’s “rant” and the reporter’s laugh.

Eva Longoria has lined up her next job. The actress, producer, and director is now in charge of the Spanish-speaking adaptation of the succesful French series “Call My Agent!” The show is a satire about celebrity agents, and has been greatly succesful all over the world, having remakes set in Italy, Canada, and the U.K.Eva Longoria shows off incredible figure posing poolside in chic bikini: ‘Ready for summer?’Eva Longoria celebrates 48th birthday: See her best bikini momentsA post shared by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria)Deadline was the first to break the news, revealing that Longoria would be producing the series through her company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment.

One of the world’s most popular international comedies is being remade in Spanish, courtesy of Eva Longoria.

Paris-based Mediawan, Elefantec Global and Eva Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment are teaming up to co-produce a Spanish-speaking Americas version of the hit series Call My Agent!.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The International Emmy-winning French series “Call My Agent!” is getting a Spanish-language remake, with Eva Longoria on board to produce and direct. Announced during Series Mania Festival in Lille, the adaptation will be co-produced by Mediawan, Elefantec Global and Longoria’s banner UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. It will mark the first adaptation targeting Latin America and the U.S., following successful remakes in Italy, Canada and the U.K., among others. In addition to producing through UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, Longoria will direct the first two episodes. The news comes right on the heels of Longoria’s feature directorial debut “Flamin’ Hot,” which premiered at SXSW and won the Audience Award.

Callum McLennan Recently, there has been a consistent tide of well crafted and highly regarded films coming out of Spain. “Alcarràs,” “The Beasts,” “Lullaby,” “La Maternal,” “Prison 77,” to name just the five that the Spanish Academy Goyas singled out in early February.  This level of quality, over a short period, is getting noticed internationally. Last week the Glasgow Film Festival, Scotland’s largest, shone a light on eight films in its Viva el Cine Español program. A cultural moment is a strange beast, hard to fathom, but there are strong signals that Spanish Film is having one.   In addition to the aforementioned five, Glasgow added Andrea Bagney’s debut “Ramona,” “Wild Flowers,” from Jaime Rosales, another debut with Elena López Riera’s “The Water,” and a Penelope Cruz starrer, in Juan Diego Botto’s “On The Fringe.” 

Holly Jones Oscar award-winning veteran producer Gerardo Herrero, (“The Secret In Their Eyes”) returns to the director’s chair with “Under Therapy,” his stark and unnerving big screen rendition of playwright Matías Del Federico’s theatrical production. The project bowed in competition at the Málaga Film festival earlier this week and is set for broader theatrical release in Spanish cinemas on Friday. Latido Films handles international sales.  Enamored with the staged rendition, Herrero was inspired to add a distinctly cinematic touch to the script, honoring its darker underpinnings amidst the narratives’ anxious banter.

Emiliano De Pablos It’s been a short time since the Spanish government launched a new increase in its international film and TV productions incentives. This bold move has rapidly put Spain at the level of the most attractive international shoot locales.  In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Spain already saw a muscular rise in tax breaks, but the really killer hike came last December, with new record tax advantages, which raised relief for international productions to up to €20 million ($21.2 million) per movie and – even more transcendent – $10.6 million for any single series episode. Early positive effects were confirmed March 15 at a presentation held at the Malaga Film Festival, as part of the fast expanding and ambitious Mafiz-Spanish Screenings industry zone.

Emiliano De Pablos Confirming the increasingly strong interest by international buyers in Spanish animated features, Pink Parrot Media has scored a bevy of key European pre-sales on upcoming Spanish family adventure toon film “4 Days Before Christmas,” led by deals with Splendid in Germany and Kaleidoscope in the U.K. Produced by Spain’s 3Doubles Producciones and Capitán Araña with Canada’s PVP Media, directed by Steve Majaury and Andrea Sebastián, “4 Days Before Christmas” was one of the five noteworthy animated works in progress presented at this week’s Malaga Film Festival–Spanish Screenings to the international industry.  The film has also been acquired by Voxell por CIS territories, GPI (Baltics), FMA (Former Yugoslavia), Kinoswiat (Poland), Front Row (Middle East), Just Ent. (Benelux), Romania (SC Idea Films), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal) and Scandinavia (Angel Films).

Spanish Screenings Content at Malaga Festival’s industry zone Mafiz, supported by ICEX Spain’s Trade & Investment entity with the collaboration of Diboos, the Spanish Federation of Animation Producers and the VFX Production Companies Associations.

Liza Foreman Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales outfit Filmax has taken on international sales on Spanish director Víctor García León’s new comedy “One Hell of a Holiday!” Filmax is presenting the trailer to international buyers at this week’s Malaga Film Festival at Mafiz’s Spanish Screenings Content, a massive industry platform where Filmax is also talking up a raft of titles led by “Girl, Unknown” and “Co-Husbands.” “One Hell of a Holiday!” is written by Manuel Burque and Josep Gatell (“Undercover Wedding Crashers”).This grandparents’ tale follows Manuela and José, two grandparents who love looking after their grandkids but have had enough of their children dumping their offspring on them every five minutes. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Running March 13-17, the Málaga Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content weigh in this year as one of the biggest dedicated Spanish movie platforms in history, boasting also a strong line in Latin American arthouse projects and productions. 10 Takes as the event kicks off, blessed by early Spring sunshine, in the Andalusian city: XXXL In 2022, super-sized by the Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spain’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) AVS Spain Hub, a vibrant Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival industry area, fair exploded, delivering  a sterling confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a platform age, aided by robust state sector backing. This year, Mafiz looks even larger. At 1,560 delegates and counting as of March 6, Mafiz is tracking to pass 2022’s final attendance figure of around 1,600, Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Festival director told Variety. Participants come from 62 countries, up from 53 last year. “The event’s consolidation is clear,” Vigar added. “It makes us feel that the work we do is useful for the sector,” he adds. 

Talking Prince Harry & Meghan Markle with our Cuban mother.

Karol G is making her mark! The Colombian singer is enjoying the success of her new project ‘Mañana Será Bonito,’ becoming the first woman in history to score No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with an all-Spanish-language album.The 32-year-old musician has achieved a historic record, debuting at the top of the charts. Previously, only two all-Spanish albums led the list, both by Bad Bunny (‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ in 2022 and El Último Tour del Mundo in 2020).Karol G continues to reach for the stars, as her latest collaboration with Shakira has been a total success.

Spanish Screenings Content unspool March 13-16 in the Andalusian coastal city. 

Guy Lodge Film Critic In time, stories like “20,000 Species of Bees” will come to feel as commonplace within the coming-of-age genre as tales of first love or heartbreak: a young girl, unhappy in her skin and at odds with her family, finally recognizes her gender over the course of one pivotal summer, and persuades others to recognize it too. For now, Spanish writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s mellow, softly piercing debut feature joins the likes of Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy” and Emanuele Crialese’s “L’Immensità” in a select but growing canon of trans or nonbinary childhood studies. Unassuming and meanderingly character-oriented, the film doesn’t assert itself as an issue drama — in large part because, as Solaguren presents her eight-year-old protagonist’s gradual steps toward self-realization, her film doesn’t see much of an issue to begin with.

Liza Foreman He’s become one of Spain’s most successful auteur directors of big audience hits. Now director-writer-producer Alex de la Iglesia (“The Day of the Beast,” “30 Coins”) and producing partner, the actor-producer Carolina Bang (“The Last Circus”), have turned to wayward soccer players for their latest TV outing, HBO Max show “Headless Chickens.” The starting point for this upcoming Spanish series is curiosity, Bang explained at an afternoon Q&A session at the Berlinale Series Market on Tuesday scheduled in the Next from Spain strand. “Alex and I don’t like soccer very much but we have a lot of curiosity about the industry,” said Bang. “You have a lot of young people that became very rich very quickly. It destroys your head.”