The 24-year-old Mexican singer-songwriter, a rising Latin music pop star, has re-signed her recording deal with Sony Music Mexico and 5020 Records, the new Sony imprint based out of Miami.
“I’m thrilled to continue growing along with my label, Sony Music Mexico, and with 5020 Records to develop my career at an international level. I’m very excited about everything that’s coming,” said Os. The singer signed her new deal out of 5020’s offices in Miami.
In a Latin arena currently dominated by urban and regional Mexican music, Os has been an unlikely pop success, garnering over 5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and currently has over 7 million listeners on Spotify. A sensation on TikTok, Os’ hit “Malas decisiones” generated over 8.4 million creations on the platforms.
Os (real name Kenia Guadalupe Flores Osuna) has released two albums on Sony, Cambios de Luna (2022) and K3 (2023), which was also released in vinyl format in Mexico. The former was accompanied by a short documentary that played successfully in movie theaters in Mexico.
“We’re very happy with what we’ve accomplished so far with Kenia, the new Mexican pop star,” said Roberto Lopez, president of Sony Music Mexico.
“Kenia is a unique artist, with an artistic and entrepreneurial vision,” said Rafael Arcaute, co president of 5020 Records. “We are inspired by her power and dedication to her career.”
“She’s an exceptional artist who combines talent, vision and professionalism,
added 5020 co president Bruno Duarte. “It’s an honor for us to extend this relationship.”
Os recently won three Premios Juventud, which are voted on by fans, including New female generation and Best Fandom. She also has multiple nominations to the MTV MIAW 2023 awards.
The 37-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer scales a massive skyscraper and breaks through the building’s glass window in the visual for Sony’s “For the Music” campaign.
The Grammy winner came up with the concept.
“There were a few things that myself and my creative advisor, Franc Fernandez, have been tossing around in general in order to build out some of the storytelling, and this one just felt like it could be a fun opportunity to not only push myself but to also push the brand [and] how far Sony’s willing to go for artists,” Miguel explains to Billboard. “That was pretty much the way we came up with [the concept]. It didn’t take much time because we had already had it in the bank of ideas.”
Directed by Liam McRae, the one-minute visual symbolizes the multiplatinum-selling singer’s next era in music and Sony’s commitment to supporting artists like Miguel in breaking through “creative barriers” and connecting directly with their fans. “I think across the board that’s been the intention,” Miguel said. “To hopefully give my fans new ways to appreciate my music and creativity and this is one of them. It was exciting to be able to do this. Not too many people can say they scaled a building!”
Miguel will be the first artist “For the Music” will support with brand campaigns for Sony’s WF-1000XM5 headphones and X-Series wireless speakers.
Sony’s new platform aims to foster various collaborations with artists, including creating specialty content, activations and memorable experiences for music fans and allowing artists’ input on Sony products and tools such as 360 Reality Audio and 360 Virtual Mixing Environment to improve content creation and listening experiences on headphones, wireless speakers and other products.
Fans will hear a new track from Miguel’s upcoming album in the Sony visual. “The song is called ‘Number 9.’ It’s about completion and new beginnings,” he explained. “It’s my intention to push beyond creative bounds and discover new places to go as a musician and an artist. Sony was intent on honoring artists’ creative vision and the song is about ending the old, starting new, and the cylindrical nature of change. I think all of that comes to a head in this very short visual. It’s powerful. It sets the tone for what’s to come, I’m excited for people to see it.”
“I’ve never done commercials for anyone, but this felt like such an authentic collaboration. We were on the same page about really pushing the boundaries about what’s expected of both our brands and what they represent. It’s exciting to be the first one to be able to express themselves through this medium with a partner as supportive of a vision as they were. It was really dope.”
As part of the collaboration, Sony and Miguel will partner on various giveaways, VIP experiences and sweepstakes, including a chance for five lucky fans to receive a VIP invite to his upcoming album and “For the Music” campaign release party in Los Angeles.
“Sony’s audio team has long supported artists because at its core, Sony represents passion for music, for listeners and creators,” added Jordy Freed, Sony’s head of brand and business development and partner marketing and strategy. “This passion drives our existing products and services, as well as newly launched products, from our consumer WF-1000XM5 headphones to professional studio headphones such as the MDR-MV1 to sound technologies such as 360 Virtual Mixing Environment and 360 Reality Audio. These exciting new activities mark the perfect time to formalize our continued support for creators, celebrate artistry, and create a tangible platform to empower their visions and reach music fans wide.”
Sony has partnered with other Sony Music artists in the past including SZA, Khalid and Tate McRae. Miguel’s collaboration comes ahead of his forthcoming album.
“I think the biggest, most relatable way of describing the overall tone [of the album] is that I took a snapshot of my life and realized that it was about the violent and beautiful nature of change. The most exciting thing about that is it gives me the opportunity to have really intimate and vulnerable moments that I don’t think I’ve ever been able to have with my fans.”
“This album is maximalism. It’s intimate, dynamic, manic at times, but it’s all very, very much the fringe of my creativity and I’m excited to even push beyond that. I think it marks the beginning of a very prolific era in my career and my expression.”
The 22-year-old half-Peruvian American actress has joined the cast of Warner Bros. DC franchise resetter Superman: Legacy, as announced by studio chief Peter Safran in a new article with Vanity Fair.
Merced, who starred in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, is among new cast additions that includes Nathan Fillion and Edi Gathegi.
Merced will portray Hawkgirl, while Fillion will portray Guy Gardner — one iteration of the superhero Green Lantern — and Gathegi as Mister Terrific. David Corenswet will play Clark Kent aka Superman, as previously announced.
Studio boss James Gunn is directing from his own script, which draws on DC characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Safran is serving as producer.
Merced has a full dance card up ahead with roles in everything from Sony’s Madame Webto the Fede Alvarez-helmed Alien: Romulus, action thriller Ballerina Overdriveand Hannah Marks’ Turtles All the Way Down. Recent credits for the actress on the film side include Rosaline and Father of the Bride.
Oscar Isaac is slinging his way to the top of the box office…
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, featuring the 44-year-old Cuban-Guatemalan actor as Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099, earned a stellar $120.5 million in its domestic box office debut.
The film beat expectations to land the second-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only The Super Mario Bros. Movie with $146 million, as well as the third-biggest opening weekend for any Spider-Man film.
Sony’s animated sequel is benefitting from great reviews and positive word-of-mouth, as well as goodwill from its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Initial ticket sales were significantly higher than the first film, which introduced audiences to Miles Morales and the idea that “anyone can wear the mask” and opened to just $35.5 million. But it proved to have enduring appeal and stuck around in theaters for a while, ending its run with $190 million in North America and $384 million globally.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse earned another $88.1 million from 59 territories in its international box office debut, led by China with $17.3 million. That brings its worldwide total to $208.6 million to start.
“This is an exceptionally good opening for an animation follow-up sequel,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise EntertainmentResearch. “Spider-Verse took a well-liked superhero, gave the storytelling an original visual style and voice and created a unique experience.”
Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson directed the PG-rated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which cost $100 million.
The story follows Miles and Gwen Stacy (a.k.a. Spider-Woman) as they attempt to save their fellow Spider People from the villain who goes by the name the Spot. Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld returned to voice Miles and Gwen, while the rest of the voice cast includes Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya and Isaac. Lauren Velez voices the character of Rio Morales, Miles’ mom.
Audiences awarded the film an “A” CinemaScore while critics bestowed it with a 95% average on Rotten Tomatoes.
The 38-year-old Cuban American actress will star opposite Ed Harris and Sonequa Martin-Green in My Dead Friend Zoe, a dark dramedy about two generations of veterans, family and friendship.
Kyle Hausmann-Stokes will direct the project in what will be his feature debut.
Written by Hausmann-Stokes and A.J. Bermudez, the film tells the story of a female veteran (Martin-Green) engaged in a mysterious but comfortable friendship with her wise-cracking (and dead) best friend from the Army (Morales). When the vet is summoned to the remote lake house of her estranged Vietnam vet grandfather (Harris), she is tasked with providing the one thing he refuses…help.
The film is based on Merit x Zoe, a short that Hausmann-Stokes co-wrote and directed last year, and both films draw inspiration from his real-life experiences during and after the military. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Hausmann-Stokes served five years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and convoy commander and was awarded the Bronze Star while in Iraq. He co-founded the nonprofit Veterans in Media & Entertainment, and has focused his directing career thus far on the social and human sides of the military and veteran experience.
“My fellow veterans and I often get reduced to archetypes and melodramatic tropes. We’re much more dynamic, funny, complex than that,” said Hausmann-Stokes. “This will be a story about veterans we haven’t seen before; one that anyone, military/veteran or not, can relate to and enjoy.”
A Gotham Award nominee who’ll next be seen in the third season of Apple TV+’s The Morning Showand Sony’s R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings, Morales has previously appeared in such studio features as Stuber, The Little Things and Battle of the Sexes, as well as well-regarded indies like Language Lessonsand I’m Totally Fine.
She led the NBC sitcom Abby’sand has also been seen on series like Dead to Me, Santa Clarita Diet, The Grinder, Parks and Recreation and White Collar.
Other upcoming projects for the actress include two films out of SXSW 2023: the sci-fi romanceIf You Were the Lastwith Anthony Mackie, and actor Jake Johnson’s feature directorial debut, Self Reliance.
The 69-year-old half-Spanish English actor will star in the indie dramedy When We Get There, the feature debut of writer-director Ryan Patrick Welsh.
Mindy Sterling and William Katt are also set, with newcomers Chris Heeder, Jamie Lien and Alek Kristopher rounding out the cast.
Co-directed by Justin Giddings, When We Get There tells the story of brothers Cal (Heeder) and Ty (Kristopher), who embark on a cross-country trek to meet the father they’ve never known, and the only family they have left. Along with Cal’s long-term girlfriend Ellie (Lien) and a new guitar named Stevie, the trio are forced to navigate uncertain futures on a 2000-mile journey in a car on its last leg. Along the way they discover what, and who, it’s worth showing up for.
Molina portrays Ellie’s abrasive but lovable father Marcus, with Sterling and Katt as Florence and Bob, two vagabond campers the kids meet along the way.
Molina recently reprised his Marvel role as evil genius Doc Ock in Sony’s Tom Holland-led blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home, which grossed over $1.9B worldwide, having first played the role opposite Tobey Maguire in 2004’s Spider-Man 2.
He also recently led the Prime Video mystery series Three Pines and has additionally been seen on such series as Angie Tribeca, Feud and Show Me a Hero, to name a few.
The Golden Globe and two-time Emmy-nominated actor has worked consistently since the late 1970s and has appeared on the film side in such acclaimed titles as The Front Runner,Love Is Strange, An Education, Identity, Frida,Chocolat,Magnolia, Boogie Nights and many more.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are officially Scream queens…
The 32-year-old Mexican actress and singer and her 20-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American’s Scream VI collected $44.5 million in its opening weekend, a great start for Paramount and Spyglass Media’s long-running slasher film series.
The ticket sales were enough to top domestic box office charts over two newcomers, Sony’s prehistoric sci-fi thriller 65 and Focus Features’ heartwarming comedy Champions, as well as last weekend’s victor Creed III.
The initial haul for Scream VI is frighteningly strong for the sixth installment in a franchise. Not only did it greatly improve upon the start of last year’s hit reboot Scream, which scored with $30 million, but it crushed the series’ opening weekend record, previously set by 2000’s Scream 3 with $34 million. Scream VI cost $35 million, so it’ll easily turn a profit in its theatrical run.
“It’s extraordinary to have this type of result after six films,” says Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “We blew away the opening of the last ‘Scream.’ That doesn’t happen.”
The R-rated “Scream VI” added another $22.6 million from 53 international markets, bringing its global tally to $67.1 million.
“Reviews and audience scores are very good, and international business should be solid,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “27 years after launching in 1996, the franchise is healthier than ever.”
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Scream VI follows survivors of Ghostface’s murders as they leave Woodsboro behind for a fresh start in New York City. Courteney Cox, Barrera, Ortega and Hayden Panettiere return for the film, which is the first installment without Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. The actor departed the film because she felt “the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.
”Opening weekend audience members skewed slightly male (51%), while 71% were between the ages of 18-24.
Sony has landed global rights to the Sister comedy My Ex-Friend’s Wedding, starring the 32-year-old half-Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress/singer.
To be directed by Kay Cannon, the film is penned by New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid and Ashley Rodger, with revisions by Cannon.
In addition to DeBose, the cast includes Chloe Fineman, Megan Stalter and Amanda Seyfried.
In the film heading into production this summer, four childhood best friends get a drunken voicemail from their former best friend on the eve of her wedding day — confessing that she thinks she’s making a mistake — then setting out to stop her wedding and rekindle the friendship they once shared.
Sister acquired the My Ex-Friend’s Wedding spec script in a competitive situation after it was developed by production and management company, Circle of Confusion.
The 30-year-old Argentine actor will star in the Sony and Playstation Productions film Gran Turismo, based on the hit racing video game series of the same name.
The upcoming film based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough is billed as the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional race car driver.
Previously announced members of its ensemble include Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Daniel Puig, Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Emelia Hartford, Pepe Barroso and Sang Heon Lee.
Neill Blomkamp is directing from a script by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin.
Sony Pictures will release the film in theaters on August 11, 2023.
González previously starred in Disney+’s Latin American sports dramedy O11CE. Upcoming feature credits include Year of the Fox, opposite Jake Weber and Sarah Jeffrey, and #FBF opposite Ashley Judd.
The 38-year-old Honduran American award-winning actress has joined the cast of Sony and Black Bear Pictures’ upcoming dramedy Dumb Money.
Ferrera is now part of an A-list ensemble cast that includes Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dane DeHaan and Pete Davidson, with Craig Gillespie directing.
The film is based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network. It tells the story of fortunes won and lost overnight in the David-vs.-Goliath GameStop short squeeze that may have ended up changing Wall Street forever. It offers a gripping portrayal of how a loosely affiliated group of private investors and internet trolls on a subreddit called WallStreetBets took down one of the biggest hedge funds on Wall Street, firing the first shot in a revolution that threatened to upend the establishment.
The script was adapted by Rebecca Angelo & Lauren Schuker Blum.
Principal photography is underway.
Ferrera can be seen next year in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie alongside Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu and Kate McKinnon. She recently starred on the Apple TV+ series WeCrashedopposite Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.
She is making her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughterfor Netflix.
“I’m thrilled to continue growing along with my label, Sony Music Mexico, and with 5020 Records to develop my career at an international level. I’m very excited about everything that’s coming,” said Os. The singer signed her new deal out of 5020’s offices in Miami.
