Category Archives: Spotlight

Pedro Pascal in Final Negotiations to Star in Paramount’s Untitled “Gladiator” Sequel

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Pedro Pascal is ready to Rome…

The 48-year-old Chilean actor is thisclose to joining the cast of the untitled Gladiator sequel for Paramount.

Pascal would join Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius, as well as Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott is returning to direct.

Pascal’s role is unknown.

The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned more than $460 million in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning five including Best Picture.

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe, not only delivering him the Best Actor Oscar but also launching him to the top of every leading-man list. Once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the part.

David Scarpa penned the script.

Also returning from the original film are John Mathieson (director of photography), Arthur Max (production designer) and Janty Yates (costume designer).

Paramount Pictures has dated the film for November 22, 2024.

The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks, and while DreamWorks will not be involved in the sequel, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

Pascal has been a major player following his scene-stealing role in his one season on Game of Thrones, but his star has blasted off following The Last of Us, which has become one of the most popular shows in HBO’s history. While HBO is looking to get the show up and going next year, Pascal had been weighing a number of options to shoot before jumping back in to that and the opportunity on this film was too hard to pass up.

Besides The Last of Us, which will certainly have him in award season chatter this Emmy season, he also reprised his role on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which just had its Season 3 finale last week.

Pascal can next be seen starring alongside Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way of Life, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics this fall.

Additionally, Pascal is in Ethan Coen’s film Drive-Away Dolls, distributed by Focus Features and releasing in September. Pascal also stars in Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales, which is likely to come out later this year.

He also hosted Saturday Night Live earlier this year, earning rave reviews, and is also in contention for some Emmy love this awards season.

Ivy Queen to Perform First Concert in Puerto Rico in 15+ Years

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Ivy Queen preparing for her long-waited homecoming concert…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter and actress will perform her first concert in Puerto Rico in over 15 years.

Ivy QueenShe’ll perform some of her most emblematic hits such as “Quiero Bailar,” “Te He Querido, Te He Llorado,” and “La Vida es Así,” to name a few, at her “Killa Queen” concert taking place on September 9 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico.

“I have beautiful emotions and nostalgia,” expressed Ivy on social media.

Eric Duars of Duars Live said in a statement: “Being responsible for La Diva’s return to the stage is a source of pride and represents a great responsibility for our company. We will work on a production that lives up to what Ivy deserves. She is the most important female figure in the urban genre and her career of more than 20 years proves it.”

For more information, visit www.ticketera.com.

Arcángel Announces 14-Date “Just In Time Tour” of North America

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Arcángel is making time for his fans…

The 37-year-old Dominican American Latin trap star will hit the road this summer for his Just In Time Tour.

Arcángel The 14-date stint, produced by Live Nation, will kick off on August 26 at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago area, making stops across the U.S. in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and more before wrapping up in Orlando at Amway Center on October 1. 

The cross-country tour is preceded by a new album Sr. Santos, which he released late last year, and seven back-to-back nights at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in February, a hard-hitting collaboration with Bizarrap (“BZRP Music Sessions #54”) that he unleashed in March and has nearly 50 million views on YouTube (so far).

Sr. Santos scored Arcangel his sixth top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart when it debuted at No. 3 in December. The set, which includes collaborations with Bad Bunny, Young Miko and Myke Towers, among others, is a tribute to his late brother Justin Santos who died at 21-years-old in 2021.

“Life surprised us with the death of [my brother] so we canceled everything,” Arcángel previously told Billboard Español. “I built up courage and said, ‘since he loved these songs so much, let’s finish it and make and album that will be dedicated to him.’”

In 2021, Arcángel released Los Favoritos 2.5 — a follow up to Los Favoritos 2 from 2020 — which peaked at No. 15 on the Top Latin Albums chart and No. 11 on the Latin Rhythm Albums.

Tickets for his Just In Time Tour will go on sale April 13 at 10:00 a.m.

Here’s the complete list of dates:

Aug. 26 — Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
Aug. 31 — Smart Financial Centre, Houston, TX
Sept. 2 — The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, TX
Sept. 3 — Payne Arena, Hidalgo, TX
Sept. 7 — Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA
Sept. 9 — Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, San Diego, CA
Sept. 10 — YouTube Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 15 — Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, CT
Sept. 16 — Eaglebank Arena, Fairfax, VA
Sept. 17 — Santander Arena, Reading, PA
Sept. 22 — Barclays Center, New York, NY
Sept. 23 — Agganis Arena, Boston, MA
Sept. 30 — Kaseya Center, Miami, FL

Ketchup Entertainment Releases Trailer for Robert Rodriguez-Directed Thriller “Hypnotic”

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Robert Rodriguez is hypnotizing audiences…

Ketchup Entertainment has released the trailer for Hypnotic, the thriller directed by 54-year-old Mexican American filmmaker.

Robert Rodriguez

The film, which stars Ben Affleck, will open in theaters on May 12 release.

The film is coming off a work-in-progress screening last month at SXSW.

Ketchup Entertainment acquired the U.S. rights to the big-budget film earlier this year; the project, which went into production in late 2021 after several pandemic delays and a lawsuit, saw its original financier and U.S. distributor Solstice Studios shut down. Now it will be released via Ketchup on more than 2,000 screens, helped by several former Solstice executives who will assist in getting the film over the finish line.

The feature centers on a detective (Affleck) who finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending crimes mysteriously connected to his missing daughter. Aided by a gifted psychic (Alice Braga), he is pursued by a lethal specter (William Fichtner) who he believes holds the key to finding his daughter.

JD Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey and Jackie Earle Haley also star.

Anthony Ramos to Receive Rising Star of the Year Award at Cinema Con 2023

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Anthony Ramos’ star is on the rise… 

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and actor and Dominique Fishback have been set to receive the Rising Stars of the Year Award at CinemaCon 2023.

Anthony RamosThe Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stars will receive the recognition from NATO’s official convention at its Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony, which takes place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the night of April 27.

They join a list of honorees that also includes Oppenheimer‘s Christopher Nolan & Emma Thomas (NATO Spirit of the Industry Award), the cast of Lionsgate’s Joy Ride (Comedy Ensemble of the Year Award) and the Dune franchise’s Zendaya (Star of the Year Award).

The new Steven Caple Jr.-helmed Transformers film set for release in theaters June 9 hails from Paramount Pictures and Skydance, in association with Hasbro and New Republic Pictures.

It’s billed as a globetrotting adventure transporting audiences back to the ’90s alongside the iconic Autobots, which also introduces a brand-new faction of Transformers, the Maximals, to join them as allies in the ongoing battle for Earth.

Ramos’ and Fishback’s human characters participating in that fight are tech wiz Noah Diaz and museum artifact researcher Elena Wallace, respectively.

“With a breadth of experience across theater, television and film, Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback will undoubtedly captivate audiences as they take on their first action-packed franchise film in this summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” CinemaCon managing director Mitch Neuhauser said. “We are thrilled to be honoring these two talented individuals with this year’s CinemaCon Rising Stars of the Year Award.”

A Grammy winner, as well as a Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, Ramos is best known for originating the roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Tony-winning Broadway smash Hamilton, and for leading Warner Bros’ feature adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other famed musical In the Heights. He’s also previously been seen in films like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and A Star Is Born, along with series including She’s Gotta Have It and In Treatment. Other upcoming projects include the films Distant and Dumb Money, as well as the Disney+ Marvel series Iron Heart.

CinemaCon takes place this year from April 24-27.

Taylor Ortega to Star in Prime Video‘s Paul Feig-Directed Action Comedy “Grand Death Lotto”

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Taylor Ortega is playing the lotto…

The Latina writer, comedian and actor has joined the cast of Prime Video‘s Paul Feig-helmed action comedy Grand Death Lotto.

Taylor OrtegaIn addition to Ortega, who starred in HBO’s Succession, other new cast additions include Michael Hitchcock, Becky Ann Baker, Sam Asghari, Leslie David Baker, Murray Hill and Adam Ray.

The actors join an ensemble led by John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu, which also includes Ayden Mayeri, Seann William Scott, Dolly de Leon and Donald Elise Watkins.

Written by Rob Yescombe, the film currently in production is set in a very near future, in which a Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? You’ll need to kill the winner before sundown in order to legally claim their prize. New L.A. transplant Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket and must join forces with amateur jackpot protector Noel (Cena) to make it to sundown in order to claim her multi-billion-dollar prize, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Liu), who also wants to get her to sundown in order to claim his rich protection commission.

Ortega is a series regular on Fox’s mockumentary series Welcome to Flatch, directed and executive produced by Feig, and has also been seen in Starz’s continuation of Party Down, as well as the HBO Max anthology Love Life and HBO’s Succession. She’ll next be seen leading the indie comedy Wine Club from directors Eric D. Cohen and Matthew Hirschhorn.

Rosalia & Rauw Alejandro Release Their Highly-Anticipated Joint Project “RR”

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It’s three for three for Rosalia and Rauw Alejandro…

The 30-year-old Spanish Grammy-winning singer and the 30-year-old Puerto Rican singer have released their highly-anticipated joint project RR, featuring three songs to celebrate their three years as a couple.

Rosalia & Rauw AlejandroRosalia and Alejandro’s project features the single “Beso,” “Vampiros” and “Promesa.” 

The EP — which marks the first that the couple recorded songs together — arrives after both artists had hinted at a potential collaboration.

In November, the Spanish superstar teased that they had been in the studio together without revealing much. “We’ll see, we’ll see,” she added.

Meanwhile, Alejandro also talked about collaborating with Rosalía during his panel at Billboard’s MusicCon back in May. “For sure we have a few stuff in the studio already,” he confirmed. “It’s a surprise. Those songs are [under] extra security. We’re planning to do the release, I’m not going to say when, but soon. We’re doing it for the love of the fans and she’s my girl and I did those songs with more love. No. 1 for sure.”

Previously, the couple had subtly collaborated on each other’s previous projects; Rosalía sang backing vocals on “Dile a Él” from the Puerto Rican artist’s first album, Afrodisiaco (2020) as well as “Corazón Despeinado” from Saturno (2022). He also co-wrote some lyrics in Rosalía’s “Chicken Teriyaki” from her Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning 2022 album, Motomami. She also lent her pen on “Caprichoso” from Alejandro’s EP Trap Cake, Vol. 2 (2022).

Alejandro kicked off his Saturno World Tour last month in the Dominican Republic, and will continue his trek in cities such as New York and Chicago. Most recently, Rosalía was recognized as Producer of the Year at the Billboard Women In Music awards. The Spanish idol, who had one of the most successful tours of 2022 with Motomami, will be performing at Coachella in April.

Detroit Tigers Sign Team Nicaragua’s Duque Hebbert Following Stellar Ninth Inning

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Despite logging a loss at the World Baseball Classic, Duque Hebbert is still a winner.

The 21-year-old Nicaraguan baseball player’s Team Nicaragua lost to the Dominican Republic during pool-play at the WBC on Monday, but he struck out MLB superstars Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez and Rafael Devers in the ninth inning of Nicaragua’s 6-1 loss and earned himself a contract with the Detroit Tigers in the process.

Duque HebbertOne of the Tigers’ scouts, Luis Molina, found the right-hander, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, as he was leaving LoanDepot Park, asked him a handful of questions and signed him to a minor league contract, said Nicaraguan Athletics Federation press officer Carlos Alfaro Leon.

An announcement was made on the bus in front of the whole team.

Hebbert, who also gave up a double to the hot-hitting Manny Machado in his lone inning of work, used mostly low 90s sinkers, mid-80s changeups and low-90s sliders to strike out the side. Team Nicaragua manager Sandor Guido called it “extraordinary.”

“He showed what he is made of,” Guido said through an interpreter. “When you have will, when you have heart, you can do very good things.”

Feid to Launch North American “Ferxxo Nitro Jam Underground” Tour

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Feid is heading underground…

The 30-year-old Colombian singer and songwriter has officially unveiled his 2023 Ferxxo Nitro Jam Underground tour.

FeidThe announcement comes fresh off his first headlining “U.S. Trip” and “Ferxxo Nitro Jam” in Latin America.

Produced by Live Nation, Ferxxo (pronounced Fercho) is set for a 29-city tour that kicks off April 20 at the WAMU Theater in Seattle and visits key cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Miami, before wrapping on June 17 at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando.

For the first time in his 13-year career, the Colombian artist and Billboard cover star — behind hits such as “Normal” and “Feliz Cumpleaños, Ferxxo” — will visit Canada, where he will perform in Toronto and Montreal. In the midst of the trek,

Feid is also set to headline the Sueños Music Festival in Chicago — also a first in his career.

Tickets for “Ferxxo Nitro Jam Underground” go on sale at 10:00 am local time on March 16 via LiveNation.com. All pre-sale will begin at 10:00 am local time on Wednesday, March 15.

April 20 — Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
April 21 — Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
April 23 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
April 25 — San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic
April 27 — Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
May 03 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
May 04 — Sacramento, CA @ Hard Rock Live Sacramento
May 06 — Las Vegas, NV @ Chelsea Theatre at The Cosmopolitan
May 07 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
May 10 — El Paso, TX @ El Paso County Coliseum
May 13 — Houston, TX @ Smart Financial Centre
May 14 — Hildago, TX @ Payne Arena
May 17 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavillion at Toyota Music Factory
May 20 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
May 21 — Austin, TX @ TBC Bass Concert Hall
May 24 — Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
May 26 — Toronto, ON @ Toronto History
May 27 — Chicago, IL @ Sueños Festival Grant Park
May 28 — Montreal, QC @ Festival Fuego Fuego
May 31 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
June 02 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
June 03 — Washington, DC @ The Theater at MGM National Harbor
June 04 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
June 07 — New York, NY @ Hulu Theatre
June 09 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
June 10 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca Cola Roxy
June 14 — Charlotte, NC @ Belk Theater
June 16 — Miami, FL @ Miami-Dade Arena
June 17 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live

Rosalia & Rauw Alejandro to Release Three-Song Project Titled “RR”

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Rosalia is officially makin’ sweet music with Rauw Alejandro…

The 30-year-old Spanish Grammy-winning artist is joining voices with Puerto Rican boyfriend and singer Rauw Alejandro on a three-song project titled RR, to be released on March 24.

Rosalia & Rauw AlejandroThe announcement comes after Rosalia and Alejandro have been teasing a collaboration for many months now.

Out March 24, the EP is comprised of three tracks: “Beso,” “Vampiros” and “Promesa.”

It marks the first time that the couple recorded songs together.

The announcement on social media doesn’t give much away. The couple simply posted on both their accounts the artwork for it, which is two intertwined black Rs painted over a red canvas. They also shared the track list and wrote “24/marzo.”

In November, the Spanish star hinted at a potential collaboration with Alejandro during an interview with Billboard. “We’ve been in the studio together, as you know,” she teased without revealing much. “We’ll see, we’ll see.” Back in May, Alejandro also talked about collaborating with Rosalía during his panel at Billboard‘s MusicCon. “For sure we have a few stuff in the studio already,” he confirmed. “It’s a surprise. Those songs are [under] extra security. We’re planning to do the release, I’m not going to say when, but soon. We’re doing it for the love of the fans and she’s my girl and I did those songs with more love. No. 1 for sure.”

He also gushed about her producing skills in the studio. “She knows more about music than me. I’m just a guy from PR who parties and feels the vibe of songs. She’s an expert. That helps us in the studio, she adds her knowledge and I just put my craziness and feelings.”

RR will follow Rosalía’s Grammy-winning Motomami and Alejandro’s Saturno, which peaked at No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart.