Sebastian Yatra Teams Up with Rita Wilson for “A Man Called Otto” Track “Til You’re Home”

Sebastián Yatra is bringing it home

The 28-year-old Colombian Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter has joined voices with Rita Wilson to record the new track “Til You’re Home” for the upcoming film A Man Called Otto starring Wilson’s husband Tom Hanks.

Sebastian Yatra“I am extremely honored by Rita Wilson’s invitation to join her on ‘Til You’re Home’ for the A Man Called Otto soundtrack,” Yatra said in a statement. “The story behind the film is heartwarming and moving and I was inspired to convey that emotion in this song. Overall, this project has been very inspiring and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

“Til You’re Home” was co-written by Wilson and Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer David Hodges. Its co-producers include Wilson and Grammy winner Matt Rollings.

The song, with its warm, inviting vocals over a piano, is already receiving recognition, as it was nominated for best song in a film (independent) at the 2022 Hollywood in Music Media Awards.

The collaboration is a first for Wilson and Yatra, which was sparked after the director of A Man Called Otto, Marc Forster, asked Wilson to write a song for the film.

“I was very humbled and grateful for the opportunity, but also made him promise to be honest with me if he didn’t want to use the song. As the producer of the film, my first allegiance is to the film and to the director’s vision,” Wilson said. “David Hodges and I had written together before and have always been like-minded musically and lyrically. A lot of the inspiration began with David Magee’s script. This is a movie about love, the depths of love and how love continues even after a person leaves this earth,” she continued.

“There are two LatinX characters in the film – I wanted to find a way to bring them into the song,” Wilson added. “I envisioned it as a duet… I have loved Sebastián Yatra’s voice since hearing him in Encanto, and he felt like the perfect person to do it. We were incredibly lucky he said ‘yes’ and all the planets aligned.”

A Man Called Otto — which hits theaters on Christmas Day — tells the story of Otto Anderson (Hanks), someone who no longer sees purpose in life after losing his wife. He plans to end it all, but his plan is derailed when a young family moves next door and he meets his match in the character Marisol, who challenges Anderson to see life through a different lens, leading to a friendship that changes his life for the better.

The A Man Called Otto soundtrack album, featuring composer Thomas Newman’s score and “Til You’re Home,” will be released December 30 via Decca Records.

Jaume Collet-Serra to Direct Taron Egerton in Netflix & Amblin’s Action Thriller “Carry On”

Jaume Collet-Serra is carrying on

The 48-year-old Spanish film director and producer will direct the Netflix and Amblin action thriller Carry On.

Jaume Collet-SerraStarring Taron Egerton, the thriller centers on Ethan Kopek, a young TSA agent who gets blackmailed by a mysterious traveler to let a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Day flight.

TJ Fixman penned the first draft of the screenplay, with Michael Green doing the most recent rewrite. Dylan Clark will produce.

The film marks the first production to come out of the overall deal Amblin signed with Netflix last June.

After doing big-budget tentpoles like Jungle Cruise and the upcoming Black Adam, Collet-Serra wanted to get back to his roots of straight-forward action thrillers like Non Stop and Unforgettable that put him on the map, and he saw Carry On as the perfect opportunity.

The director will be jumping back into developing his franchises next year but wanted to fit this project into his schedule and jumped at it while also having Green, who worked with him on several projects like Jungle Cruise, to give that final polish to script.

Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates to Perform at iHeartRadio Holiday Special

Kirstin Maldonado is helping people get into the holiday spirit…

The 29-year-old half-Mexican, part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates will perform Christmas classics at the second annual iHeartRadio Holiday Special later this month.

Kirstin Maldonado, Pentatonix

Pentatonix is part of a lineup that includes Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé and Train.

Hosted by Mario Lopez, the virtual concert will take place on November 24 at 7:00 pm ET.

It will be broadcast across iHeart AC, Hot AC and Classic Hits stations and on the iHeartRadio app, with a video stream on the company’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Fans can also watch the concert in VR through the Horizon Venues app on Meta Quest.

The concert will mark the annual switch to exclusively holiday music through Christmas Day on more than 80 stations in key markets nationwide.

According to iHeartMedia, that switch sometimes doubles the audience size for a station from typical non-holiday programming.

“Our listeners always anxiously await the day our stations flip to Christmas music,” said Tom Poleman, chief programming officer for iHeartMedia. “Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé, Train and Pentatonix have some of the best songs of the holiday season, and we’re excited to have them perform on our show.”

Pentatonix dropped their sixth holiday-themed project Evergreen, which features collabs with Alessia Cara and Lindsey Stirling, on October 29; the a cappella group also kicks off a Christmas tour on November 27 in Baltimore.

In addition to local stations, listeners can head to the iHeartRadio Holiday page to see all the dedicated Christmas stations across the iHeartRadio app and beyond.