Buena Vista Original Productions Developing New Series About Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa’s life is headed to the small screen…

Disney-owned production company Buena Vista Original Productions has announced a new series inspired by the life of the legendary Mexican revolutionary, entitled Centauro del Norte

Francisco Pancho Villa

A fictionalized version of Villa’s life story, the series will begin with the historical figure, real name Doroteo Arango, as a young bandit during his adolescence in the Mexican pueblo of Durango, and tracks his rise and eventual establishment as the most influential player in the Mexican Revolutionbefore his eventual death, resulting from an ambush.

The 10-hour series, produced with Mexico’s BTF, will film on location across Mexico, in many places made famous through Villa’s exploits.

Looking to shed a light on lesser-known parts of Villa’s life, the series will take a multi-layered look at his historical legacy, his interpersonal contradictions and his life before becoming a revolutionary. Described in a press release as: “cruel, a womanizer, charismatic and ideological,” Villa is reviled by some and revered by many.

Centauro del Nortecontinues the noteworthy commitment shown by Buena Vista to bioseries, or true-life crime series, which has seen Leonardo Aranguibel, now BVOP head of general entertainment productions, spearhead high-profile hits from the ground breaking Hasta que te conocíSelena’s Secret– both produced with Mexico’s BTF Media, founding a partnership now reprised in Centauro del Norte– and the recent Monzón, a smash success in Argentina and winner of the best series Produ Awardat November’s Mip Cancun.

Recently announced Buena Vista Original Productions take in Santa Evita, about the extraordinary power exercised by Eva Perón, even after death, and Mariposas, set in 1950’s Dominican Republic and focusing on political activist Arantxa Garmendia. Also in the pipeline is Femicidios, one of the most ambitious drama series project ever in Latin America, portraying episodic, true-life stories of infamous cases of fatal gender violence in four countries in Latin America.

Diego Boneta to Star in Telemundo’s Bio-Musical Series About Luis Miguel

Diego Boneta will be shining bright like a Mexican icon..

The 26-year-old Mexican singer and actor is set to star as Luis Miguel, known as El Sol de México, in the upcoming Telemundo bio-musical series based on the life of the Grammy-winning singer.

Diego Boneta

Boneta is known for roles in television shows like Pretty Little Liars and Ryan Murphy‘s Scream Queens. On the big screen, he appeared opposite Tom Cruise in jukebox musical Rock of Ages.

Boneta recorded two albums in his career, Diego and Indigo

The authorized series based on the life and career of the chart-topping artist will be produced by Gato Grande Productions and will air on Telemundo in 2018, and later streamed via Netflix in Latin America and Spain.

“People will travel alongside with me through a surprising, unexpected and emotional journey that has shaped the artist and the person that I am today,” Luis Miguel said in a statement about the series, which joins other Telemundo biopic productions including Juan Gabriel‘s Hasta Que te Conocí (2016).

Gabriel’s Death Causes Spike in Sales & Streams of His Catalog

Juan Gabriel’s death continues to impact the music charts…

The Mexican singer’s death on August 28 has caused a spike in sales and streams of the his repertoire.

Juan Gabriel

JuanGa’s U.S. album sales jumped to 37,000 in the week ending September 1, up 846 percent from the previous week.

Five of his albums dot Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart (dated September 17), with four in the tally’s top 10. His Los Duo 2 ranks the highest, hopping 5-2 (up 1,412 percent to 9,000 copies). The last album he released in his lifetime (on Aug. 5), Vestido de Etiqueta: Por Eduardo Magallenes, slides 1-3 (despite a 192 percent jump in sales, to 5,000 copies) after crowning the September 3 and September 10-dated charts.

Gabriel becomes only the third act to have five simultaneous top 10s. He joins two other acts who achieved the distinction in death: Selena (who died in 1995) and Joan Sebastian (2015) each had five albums in the top 10 in the weeks following their deaths.

Gabriel, who began his career in the early 1970s, has placed a total of 32 albums on the chart (since it began in 1993).

He concurrently holds the top nine spots on the Latin Catalog Albums chart (led by his former Top Latin Albums No. 1, Mis Numero 1 … 40 Aniversario, 9,000 copies — up 1,370 percent). At No. 2, his 2014 set Los Duo, which finished as the top Latin album of the year on Billboard’s 2015 year-end charts.

Latin Catalog Albums Chart Rank (dated Sept. 17):
Rank, Title
No. 1, Mis Numero 1…40 Aniversario
No. 2, Los Duo
No. 3, Mis 40 En Bellas Artes (Parte 1)
No. 4, Mis 40 En Bellas Artes
No. 5, Los Gabriel…Cantan A Mexico (with Ana Gabriel)
No. 6, La Historia Del Divo
No. 7, Frente a Frente (with Ana Gabriel)
No. 8, Mis 40 En Bellas Artes (Parte 2)
No. 9, Los Gabriel…Para Ti (with Ana Gabriel)

On the Hot Latin Songs chart, which blends airplay, sales and streaming, 10 Gabriel tracks make the list. Only Sebastian has placed more songs on the chart at the same time, when he held 11 spots after his death (Aug. 1, 2015 chart).

Gabriel’s classic 1984 track “Querida” leads the entries at No. 4. It’s his highest charting song since 2001’s “Abrazame Muy Fuerte” reached No. 1. The Hot Latin Songs chart launched 30 years ago, and Gabriel’s “Yo No Se Que Me Paso” was the first No. 1 on the inaugural chart (Oct. 4, 1986). The posthumous entries give Gabriel a total of 36 career-charting songs on the list, with 20 having reached the top 10 (and seven No. 1s).

All of Gabriel’s tracks that debut or re-enter on Hot Latin Songs are powered primarily by streams. “Querida” leads with 2.4 million domestic plays during the week, while “Asi Fue” and “Hasta Que Te Conoci” follow with nearly 2 million streams each. Gabriel’s total on-demand audio and video streams increase 1,099 percent, to 52.9 million weekly U.S. plays.

Increased digital sales spur 21 Gabriel songs onto the 50-position Latin Digital Songs chart, the second-most simultaneous songs on the chart after Jenni Rivera placed 24 charting titles following her death in 2012.

“Querida” fronts the debuts, arriving at No. 4 (4,000 downloads). Overall digital song sales for Gabriel increased 3,045 percent, to 54,000 downloads, in the most recent week.

Spotify Reports a 257% Increase in Streams of Gabriel’s Songs

He may have left this world suddenly… But Juan Gabriel’s music lives on.

It appears the world is honoring and remembering the late Mexican singer and music icon by listening to his timeless songs.

Juan Gabriel

Within less than 24 hours of Gabriel’s unexpected passing on Sunday (August 28), Spotify reported a 257% increase in streams of JuanGa‘s tracks.

In his native Mexico, he currently has 19 songs on the Top 50, including “Abrazame muy fuerte,” which peaks at No. 1 on the Spotify Mexico chart and “Hasta que te conocí,” which lands on No. 4. On Spotify’s Top 200 Global, the singer and songwriter has three songs: “Abrazame muy fuerte,” “Hasta que te conocí” and “Querida.”

Spotify also honored the Mexican crooner with their own playlist titled “Hasta siempre, Juan Gabriel,” now with more than 50,000 followers, that includes songs like “No tengo dinero,” “Siempre en mi mente,” “La muerte del palomo,” “El noa noa,” “Amor eterno,” plus 50 other songs.