Ariana DeBose to Star in Apple Original Films’ Actioner “Argylle”

The spies have it for Ariana DeBose

The 30-year-old half-Afro-Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer has joined the cast of Argylle, an action film from Apple Original Films and Matthew Vaughn’s Marv Studios.

Ariana DeBose

The film is currently in production in Europe.

DeBose, a Tony Award nominee, joins a cast that includes Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, and Grammy winner Dua Lipa, who is making her big screen debut.

The film—setting up a new franchise for Vaughn—follows the world’s greatest spy, Argylle, as he is caught up in a globetrotting adventure, which takes him from America to London and beyond.

It’s based on Elly Conway’s upcoming spy novel of the same name, which is set for publication via Transworld Publishers Ltd, a division of Penguin Random House, next year.

Vaughn is directing Argylle from a script by Jason Fuchs. Dua Lipa will also pen the film’s original title track and score.

“We have assembled an absolutely stellar cast to inhabit each of the wonderfully original and captivating characters in this thrill ride of a story,” said Vaughn. “We’re so excited that production is now off and running, bringing us closer to sharing this epic action spectacle with audiences around the world.”

DeBose earned her Tony nomination in 2018 for her turn as Donna Summer in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. She also featured in the original cast of Hamilton, along with other Broadway titles including Bring It On: The Musical and Pippin.

She will next be seen portraying Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, and can currently be seen in Apple’s musical comedy series Schmigadoon!.

The Kid Mero to Promote New Book “God-Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx” with Virtual Book Tour

The Kid Mero is ready to share some life lessons virtually…

The 27-year-old Dominican American television personality, writer and comedian, whose real name is Joel Martinez, and Desus Nice will be heading out on a book tour.

The Kid Mero

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,Desus & Mero, as they’re known on their Showtime late-night talk show of the same name, set up the virtual tour to promote God-Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx.

The book, published by Penguin Random House, will be released on September 22.

Tickets to the experience will include the virtual live show and a pre-order copy of the life advice book. Some tickets will be available for a virtual meet-and-greet.

The ‘tour’ kicks off on August 14 in the mid-Atlantic, before wrapping up in the south on September 20.

“We want to share all we’ve learned, after years in the Bronx streets, with you: the people. So with a lifetime spent building up a plethora of information from trials and tribulations and a handful of misdemeanors, we decided to write this book—a sequel to the Bible, or maybe to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, depending on how big a nerd you are. Let this book be your North Star,” the pair said.

This comes as Showtime moved their show from its previous Monday night slot to Sunday evenings. It also airs on Thursday nights.

“The network believes in us, and Sunday night, you know, that’s the night for the big shows,” Desus, otherwise known as Daniel Baker, told Deadline. “Imagine it like a baseball lineup. You just want to have your best hitters right after each other, boom, boom, boom. You’ve got all the crème de la crème shows in one package on Sunday night, and it gives our show a chance to be in front of more eyes so more people could see it.”

Mero added, “The lead-in to your show is super important. If you have American Ninja Part 3 playing before your show, you’re not going to get a lot of [viewers]. But if you have The Chi or Billions, you get more eyeballs.”

Leila Cobo to Release New Book Offering Inside Look into the Latin Music Industry

Leila Cobo is doing some decoding…

The Colombian journalist/writer, a vice president at Billboard, will release a new book next year with Penguin Random House titled Decoding Latino: The Real Story of Latin Music.

Leila Cobo

The book will offer an insider’s view into the Latin music industry, tracking the stories behind 15 of the biggest hits of the past 50 years featuring some of the biggest names in music, including Emilioand Gloria EstefanEnrique IglesiasJ Balvinand Luis Fonsi, among others. 

“Bringing to life these stories and these songs is an honor and a pleasure,” said Cobo, who is also a classically trained pianist. “We’ve had so much fun reliving the making of these landmark songs.”

Decoding Latino will also explore areas such as the birth of Salsa, which was bred on the streets of Spanish Harlem, as well as Puerto Rican reggaetonand the bilingual chart-toppers making history. 

It will be published in English and Spanish, and will also be available as an audio book. 

Cobo, who has previously written four books in addition to co-writing the 2017 memoir Una Vida with recording artist Ednita Nazario, is Billboard‘s chief Latin music expert, writer and editor who has secured some of the magazine’s most iconic cover stories highlighting names like pop star Jennifer Lopez, urban king Ozuna and the recent cover story featuring Spain’s flamenco-inspired hip-hip artist Rosalía, who this month was celebrated at Billboard’s 14th annual Women in Music event for her contributions to female empowerment.

Previously, Cobo published two novels with Grand Central Publishing/Hatchette Book Group, which were translated to German, Italian and have won multiple awards. The Second Time We Met, Cobo’s 2012 novel, won the Latino Book Award for best popular fiction and was chosen as one of the top summer reads by MSN and Latina

Cobo’s biography on the late Jenni Rivera (Penguin Random House) stayed on the U.S. top 10 list of most-sold books in Spanish for more than 25 consecutive weeks. The book on the Diva of Banda music was named a top-read by several publications, including People en Español.

Julio Iglesias the Subject of New Biography Out This Month

Julio Iglesias fans, prepare for a page-turner…

A new biography about the 75-year-old Spanish singer/songwriter chronicles the story of his long career, his relationship with fame, and his legend as the quintessential Latin lover— it was once reported that he had slept with 3,000 women, a figure, according to the book, that he privately told his manager not to deny.

Julio Iglesias

Julio. La Biografíawill be published on Thursday (Sept. 19), in Spanish, by Penguin Random House imprint Aguilar. The book’s author, Óscar García Blesa, a journalist and long-time music industry executive, previously wrote the authorized biography of Alejandro Sanz, which was a bestseller in Spain. García is currently director of Mow Management, the agency that also manages Sanz.

While the Iglesias book was not penned as an official biography, it is one that, in the publisher’s words, was written “with respect and rigor.”

“My admiration for Julio, his artistic achievements and his kaleidoscopic personality have been the fundamental reasons that drove me to write the book,” García writes in the introduction to Julio. La Biografá.

Published to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Iglesias’ first album, Yo Canto, the 800-page book covers the crooner’s superstar achievements: his 350 million records sold throughout the world, his place among the five best-selling artists of all time and Spain’s internationally best-known artist of all time.

The book probes Iglesias’ feeling about success, and professes his insecurities with the ladies. “When I go out with a woman, when I have her in my mind, however beautiful the woman is and however romantic the evening” García quotes Iglesias as once saying, “I always ask myself, is she with me because of who I am or what I represent? That has made me doubt a lot and suffer quite a bit.”

The bio also delves into Iglesias’ marriage to Isabel Preysler, constant fodder for gossip magazines until she ended the union in 1979, as well as his relationship with his son and fellow singing star Enrique Iglesias, who began his career under an assumed name to escape the shadow of his father.

García, who first met Iglesias in Miami recording studio Criteria in 2001, says that his intention was to offer “a new look at the man and the character, someone who everyone in the world knows, but who, like any human being, has dirt that has not been dished.” The book, says García, is also “a sociocultural chronicle of an entire country [Spain] over more than seventy years.”

Rosa Pens Plant-Based Eating Guide and Cookbook with His Nutritionist Nena Niessen

Draco Rosa wants you to eat healthy…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican rock singer-songwriter and cancer survivor has collaborated with his nutritionist to publish an eating guide and cookbook with recipes like “Draco’s Super Juice” and “Miracle Salad.”

Draco Rosa

Rosa penned the book with Nena Niessen, who was also diagnosed with cancer and beat it, twice.

“This is a book born of our healing from the terrible disease cancer,” Rosa stated in a release about the book, published in Spanish by Penguin Random House imprint Aguilar.

Draco Rosa Cookbook

El secreto de la vida a base de plantas has climbed to the top of Amazon’s Spanish language books alternative medicine section since its release on July 28.

Draco Rosa’s Vida, the 2013 Latin Grammy Album of the year, was a personal as well as professional triumph. The album had been recorded with collaborators including Juan Luis Guerra and Ricky Martin after Rosa was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rosa underwent a stem cell transplant. Upon the album’s release he was cancer free.

After a euphoric tour of concerts that were, literally, life-affirming for both the artist and his audience, the cancer had returned. Rosa went through another round of treatments, and moved his family and his recording studio to Hacienda Horizonte, the coffee plantation he owns in Puerto Rico.

Niessen, who is Nicaraguan and lives in Southern California, is known for her “cooking for cancer” classes. She worked with Rosa to change his own diet during his illness. Now the two “want to spread the word about plant-based nutrition as a fundamental weapon in the fight against illness in general and cancer in particular.”

The book outlines a healthy vegetarian diet and a plan for detoxing, and explains the nutritional and medicinal properties of specific plants.

“Having been attacked twice by cancer was a blessing and a new awakening,” Rosa said. “We found the way to healthy eating. We don’t pretend to be doctors, we just want to share what we learned, and the benefits that plant-based eating has given us.”