News

Latino actors have long been outspoken about the types of roles they are frequently relegated to in most American productions: criminals, migrants, housekeepers. On that front, the romantic comedy “Say a Little Prayer” succeeds at defying the status quo by presenting professionally accomplished American Latino characters (who own enviable homes) in a plot that doesn’t involve poverty, immigration issues or marginalization. Regrettably, as harmless and brightly positive as it is on the representation front, that irreproachable approach is packaged in a film that’s overwhelmingly ordinary in all other respects.

Working from a screenplay by Nancy De Los Santos-Reza (also a producer), prolific director Patrick Perez Vidauri operates in an upbeat, broad comedic tone, somewhere between a sitcom and a telenovela, to follow Adela (Vannessa Vasquez), a 35-year-old owner of a soon-to-open art gallery in San Antonio, Texas. Conversely, her personal life seems less put-together as her boyfriend Enrique...

Roselyn Sanchez is originally from Puerto Rico. She grew up with a love for performing and channeled that into local competitions and beauty pageants when she was a kid. When she left Puerto Rico for New York while she was in college, she decided to take classes in dance, music, and acting, ready to pursue the work full-time.

Snchez has filmed a handful of projects in her native Puerto Rico, but her big break came from a role in the soap opera As The World Turns in the mid 90s. Shes been steadily acting ever since. While she has a variety of movies and tv shows behind her, many of her best roles have been in television.

The Game Plan (2007) As Monique Vasquez

The Game Plan

Director Andy FickmanRelease Date September 28, 2007Cast Morris Chestnut, Roselyn Sanchez, Hayes MacArthur, Dwayne Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra SedgwickRating PGRuntime 110 minutesGenres Family, Comedy, Sport Stream...

Even if you’re not a Halloween person, October means spooky season. It feels like every brand, store, — and yes, every streamer, finds ways to incorporate themes of haunting and horror. Disney+ started early, with the September premiere of “Agatha All Along,” which will air new episodes for the next several weeks. In October, the streamer will debut “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place,” an expansion of the popular Disney Channel series “Wizards of Waverly Place” which aired from 2007 to 2012.

And of course Hulu has “Huluween,” a celebration of the scariest titles either premiering on the streamer for the first time or simply highlighted from its existing library. That includes films like “Late Night with the Devil,” the series “Reginald the Vampire,” FX’s “American Horror Stories”, a Halloween specials from “Family Guy” and “Solar Opposites,” a docuseries on witch hunting, and much more.

Top Pick: “What We Do in the Shadows...

"Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara poses for the latest issue of "Vogue" (Mexico) magazine, photographed by Noman Jean Roy:

Vergara was the top-earning actress in US TV in 2012, 2013 and 2016, and is the highest paid TV actress in the world as of 2019.

She rose to prominence co-hosting two television shows for Spanish-language television network Univisión in the late 1990's. Her first acting job (in English) was the feature "Chasing Papi" (2003). She subsequently appeared in "Four Brothers" (2005), and the comedies "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" (2008) and "Madea Goes to Jail" (2009). In 2009, she started playing 'Gloria' Delgado-Pritchett' in the ABC comedy series "Modern Family".

Vergara's success on television has earned her roles in films "The Smurfs" (2011), "New Year's Eve" (2011), "The Three Stooges" (2012), "Machete Kills" (2013), "Chef" (2014) and "Hot Pursuit" (2015).

Her distinctive voice has landed her voice-over roles in the animated films "Happy Feet Two" (2011), "Escape from Planet Earth" (2013) and "The Emoji Movie" (2017).

Vergara was...

A brand new “The Boys” spinoff series, the second season of “Wheel of Time” and football highlight a robust lineup of new movies and shows coming to Amazon Prime Video in September. “Gen V,” a spinoff of “The Boys” set at a college, premieres on Sept. 29, while new episodes of “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 are rolling out all month long after the season premiere on Sept. 1.

Thursday Night Football is streaming starting Sept. 14, and a whole host of library movies worth checking out – from “Four Weddings and a Funeral” to “Dracula” to “10 Things I Hate About You” – are now streaming.

There’s also the premiere of the original film “Cassandro” starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a gay wrestler, and the acclaimed drama “A Thousand and One” comes to Prime Video on Sept. 19.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in September 2023 below.

It’s a deceptively big month on Prime Video in September! To kick things off, The Wheel of Time will be back for a second season on the service, while a live-action The Boys spinoff series called Gen V will be capping off the original series content later in the month.

But there are also some interesting new projects lined up between those two biggies. On September 15, Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen star in what is sure to be a delicious tale of revenge. Wilderness, based on B.E. Jones’ novel of the same name, stars Coleman as a heartbroken wife who discovers her husband has been cheating on her after she gives up her whole life to move over to America with him and support his career.

You should also keep an eye out for Cassandro, landing on Prime Video on the same day. The film, which has been...

And just like that, winter has come again. HBO Max’s list of new releases for August 2022 is highlighted by the return of the king. Or more accurately: the return of the queen … of the Seven Kingdoms.

Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Aug. 21, just over three years after Game of Thrones concluded in controversial fashion with “The Iron Throne.” This new series is a prequel, depicting the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons from George R.R. Martin’s lore. When dragon fights dragon, the realm will be torn asunder. But the viewer will certainly delight in all the Targaryen action.

Read more TV How House of the Dragon Is Approaching the Game of Thrones Ending Backlash By David Crow TV House of the Dragon: What Rickard Stark Means for the Game of Thrones Spinoff...

Hulu is gearing up for a solid month of programming this October as the streamer makes way for originals, returning network favorites, and plenty of classic films. With something to satisfy everyone, Hulu’s originals slate includes the Michael Keaton-led drama Dopesick, the documentary Jacinta, the bingeable competition series Baker’s Dozen, and the delectable docuseries The Next Thing You Eat. Below, see the full lineup of what’s coming and going from Hulu this October. Here’s what’s coming to Hulu in October: October 1 Big Sky: Season 2 Premiere (ABC) Cake: Season 5 Premiere (Fxx) Grey’s Anatomy: Season 18 Premiere (ABC) Station 19: Season 5 Premiere (ABC) The Bachelorette: Complete Season 13 (ABC) A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Air Force One (1997) Ali (2001) Blippi’s Spooky Spells Halloween (2021) Boxcar Bertha (1972) Cedar Rapids (2009) Chasing Papi (2003) Class (1983) Clifford (1994) Clockstoppers (2002) Big Sky (Credit: ABC/Michael Moriatis) Code 46 (2004) Crimson Tide (1995) Date Night (2010) Dead of Winter...

Legendary casting director Chemin Bernard has been honored by the Casting Society of America, which has awarded her with Emeritus Member Status in recognition of her “remarkable contributions to the organization, the profession, and the art of casting.” Bernard, who served as Csa president from 2006-08, was chosen for the honor by the Csa’s board of directors and by the Csa Black, Indigenous and People of Color Alliance.

“Chemin Bernard is an exemplary casting director who has built an esteemed career by championing actors and helping tell stories that make an impact on culture,” said Csa president Russell Boast. “She has been a cornerstone to our craft who continues to inspire the next generation of artists.”

“I am humbled by this honor and share it with the African American casting directors on whose shoulders I stand,” said Bernard, who is now retired. “My mission as a casting director was...

"Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara poses for the Dolce & Gabbana "Devotion" handbag campaign, wearing the company's signature 'animal spots', black lace and floral print wardrobe:

Vergara was the top-earning actress in Us TV in 2012, 2013 and 2016, and is the highest paid TV actress in the world as of 2019.

She rose to prominence co-hosting two television shows for Spanish-language television network Univisión in the late 1990's. Her first acting job (in English) was the feature "Chasing Papi" (2003). She subsequently appeared in "Four Brothers" (2005), and the comedies "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" (2008) and "Madea Goes to Jail" (2009). In 2009, she started playing 'Gloria' Delgado-Pritchett' in the ABC comedy series "Modern Family".

Vergara's success on television has earned her roles in films "The Smurfs" (2011), "New Year's Eve" (2011), "The Three Stooges" (2012), "Machete Kills" (2013), "Chef" (2014) and "Hot Pursuit" (2015).

Her distinctive voice has landed her voice-over roles in the animated films "Happy Feet Two" (2011), "Escape from Planet Earth...

New hire arrives from CAA where she increased representation of women and people of colour.

Building on its inclusion policy announced last year, WarnerMedia on Wednesday (12) said it has hired Christy Haubegger as executive vice-president, chief enterprise inclusion officer.

Haubegger arrives from CAA and will be tasked with driving growth through strategic investment in diverse audiences and ensuring WarnerMedia’s workforce represents the audiences it serves. She reports directly to WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey.

The hire builds on the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, which it institutionalised last year through an inclusion policy that pledges to ensure diverse...

WarnerMedia has appointed Christy Haubegger to the position of chief enterprise inclusion officer.

Haubegger joins the team from CAA, where she spent 14 years working to increase representation of women and people of color in the content space and within the corporate culture of the agency.

She will report directly to WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, and work with other top brass to “drive business growth through strategic investment in diverse audiences and to ensure the organization’s workforce is representative of the markets it serves,” the company said.

“As we transform our businesses and our culture, we see a unique opportunity to generate outsize growth by delivering world-class content that engages underserved audiences,” Stankey said. “Christy is a business leader and an innovator whose commitment to inclusion, industry reputation and diversity experience is second-to-none. She will play a pivotal role in helping to drive our strategic and creative process forward to ensure relevancy,...

D.L. Hughley has a lot on his mind. The actor and comedian, who’s known for sharing his unfiltered opinions on social media, now has a late-night platform, and he’s not holding back.

The Dl Hughley Show launched March 18 on TV One. The nightly series features Hughley and co-host Jasmine Sanders using humor to tackle everything from hard news and politics to celebrity fare. Hughley serves as an executive producer on the show and says there are no subjects he won’t touch.

“I don’t believe that any topic is off limits, but I’m careful as to how to broach them and to be clear about what my intent is,” Hughley said recently during an interview at the Burbank studio where the series tapes.

While other late-night shows feature games, karaoke and mean tweets, Hughley wants his guests to keep it real, like the time he asked...

Forest Whitaker’s career is a testament to the slow-growth presence of diversity in Hollywood. He was the fourth African American in history to win the Best Actor Oscar, for his performance as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland,” and now he stars as Archbishop Desmond Tutu in “The Forgiven,” the story of Tutu’s role as Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa in 1995. It opens just a few weeks after the historic box office success of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” in which Whitaker had a supporting role. Coogler began his career with Whitaker in a different kind of supporting role: He produced Coogler’s 2013 debut, “Fruitvale Station.”

“We need to continue to tell stories that are inclusive and allow all voices to be heard,” he said in a phone interview, a few days before “The Forgiven” opened in limited theatrical release. “Hopefully,...

Sofia Vergara has shut down rumors she's one of Bill Cosby’s alleged sexual assault victims.

The Modern Family star fired back via Twitter after radio show El Candela claimed she 'could've been one of Cosby's victims' amid sexual abuse allegations against the comedian.

"A video of an interview of Bill Cosby and a young Sofia Vergara came out. It's rumored if she could’ve been one of his victims," En Candela tweeted in Spanish.

The said video is a 2003 interview between the two on The Late Show when Cosby was guest hosting for David Letterman. Vergara was promoting...

There are really only two things to discuss when it comes to Hot Pursuit. The first is the fact it's produced by, directed by and starring women. This is the kind of progressive feature we've been looking for in Hollywood and Reese Witherspoon is clearly a frontrunner for the cause following her producer credit on two of last year's Oscar-nominated films -- Gone Girl and Wild. Of course, the other talking point is Hot Pursuit is absolutely terrible, which then, sadly, begins to overshadow any progress it may represent. This, of course, is coming from the perspective of a man. Comedy lands differently for everyone and perhaps it's that Y chromosome that's causing me so much trouble, because instead of laughing I was burying my face in my hands, amazed at how long 87 minutes began to feel. From Anne Fletcher, the director that brought us Step Up, 27 Dresses and The Proposal,...

More photos from Sofia Vergara's modeling past have just been uncovered ... and so has her body!The sexy "Modern Family" star goes topless in some just-released photos from 1998, back when she was just 26 years old. Photos: See More Modeling Pics from 1992!Sporting bikini bottoms and a smile, the then-blonde shows off all of her killer curves in a number of swimsuits for a calendar shoot done at an island off Miami. It was around this time that Vergara, now 41, moved to the United States -- but she wouldn't have her first big acting break until 2003's "Chasing Papi."Sofia is still known for her amazing figure these days, something she opened up about in Women's Health earlier this month."I'll tell you something. I've always been known for my boobs, but it pisses me off, because I do also have a great ass," she told the mag. Yeah, the photos speak for themselves.

Tonight (Feb. 23) on Catholic cable/satellite network Ewtn, at 9 p.m. Et, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey appear with the channel's news director, Raymond Arroyo, on "Reflections on Son of God," to talk about the Friday, Feb. 28, release of "Son of God," the theatrical version of the New Testament section of their History Channel blockbuster miniseries "The Bible."

Featuring re-edited scenes from the miniseries -- which don't include the original scenes featuring Satan, since many thought the Moroccan actor looked too much like President Obama -- along with new footage, "Son of God" covers the life of Jesus from the Nativity to the Resurrection.

Incidentally, star Diogo Morgado isn't providing the voice for Jesus in the Spanish-language version of "Son of God." Since he's Portuguese, and that's his first language, that task falls instead to a close Catholic friend of Burnett and Downey, Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui ("Chasing Papi," "Bella...

Sneak Peek director Linda Mendoza's 2003 comedy romance feature, "Chasing Papi", now available on DVD from Anchor Bay, starring Sofia Vergara, Roselyn Sanchez, Jaci Velasquezand Eduardo Verástegui:

"...advertising executive 'Tomas Papi Fuentes' (Verastegui) is truly, deeply in love...with three gorgeous women in three different cities.

"There’s prim and proper 'Patricia' (Velasquez) in New York, lovely 'Lorena' (Sanchez) in Chicago and spicy 'Cici' (Vergara) in Miami.

"But when all three arrive in L.A. to surprise Papi at home, the situation doesn’t just heat up, it explodes, with beautiful bodies, hip Latin rhythms and plenty of passion..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Chasing Papi"...

El Mayimbe Here…

My apologies to our readers for this story even appearing on the site. This was done without my approval or supervision. This is the first and last time William Levy will Ever be mentioned on Latino Review ever again. Univision telenovela famewhore William Levy who famously passed on the Alex Rodriguez part in Magic Mike, wasted Steven Soderbergh’s time (Wme dropped Levy as client shortly thereafter), and chose to be a reality show loser on Dancing With The Stars instead apparently got a job in Jada’s Salsa movie. They tried this Latin minstrel show of a movie 20 years ago with Robi Rosa, nobody saw it. They tried again with Chayenne a decade later, guess what? Nobody saw that one either. Trust me no one will see this one. There is a reason this guy is unsigned by the major agencies in Hollywood. A pretty boy no talent famewhore.

Discussion of where to store all those Modern Family Emmy statues can get tense.

News

USA has ordered additional seasons of White Collar, Covert Affairs and Royal Pains. Pains got an order for two seasons and 26 episodes while White Collar and Covert Affairs will both be back for 16 episodes. News of 16 more episodes of Matt Bomer is always very welcome around here.

NBC has also asked for two more seasons of The Voice, which would include a run next spring and another one in the fall.

Greg Berlanti has already sold two projects to NBC, including Napa, a modern take on Wuthering Heights.

New Jersey is considering a law allowing its cities to regulate reality shows like any other business. The law is inspired by Jersey Shore and includes letting cities charge a reality show for the increased police force required for crowd control.

Bernadette Peters will be returning to Smash.

Hispanic-Americans are among the Us's keenest film-goers, but Hollywood offers them little more than stereotypes

• What global box-office stories would you like to see in After Hollywood? Let us know in the comments below

It's not obvious what language Will Ferrell's new film, Casa de Mi Padre, is speaking. Everyone's favourite cross-eyed man-child had last-minute cramming sessions in order to be able to drawl the Spanish-language dialogue for the comedy – a sendup of cheesy rural-Mexico telenovelas. But just as Ferrell admits he still can't really hold a conversation in Spanish, Casa looks like it could have communication issues, too. Is it a deft in-joke for the Us's movie-mad Hispanic audience? Or does Ferrell's presence just crank up the irony factor for the urban-hipster crowd to indulge yet another cultural fetish?

Movie executives would, if they had to choose, plump for the former. As well as the largest ethnic minority,...

HollywoodNews.com: We all spent a lot of time with our modern family members over the holidays. Chances are, very few of them looked like Sofia Vergara. The stunning “Modern Family” co-star has a very good year in 2011.

Sofia Vergara ◄ Back Next ►Picture 1 of 13

In Chasing Papi

Photos by PRPhotos

Her extremely popular sitcom earned multiple Emmy wins (and Vergara scored an Emmy nomination for her work). She also graduated to a steadier stream of feature film work, appearing in the family comedy “The Smurfs” and playing a chef in Gary Marshall’s holiday hit, “New Year’s Eve.”

The sky is the limit for Vergara, who’ll continue working on the latest season of “Modern Family: while also playing a part in Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s “The Three Stooges.” Could 2012 be even bigger for this beauty than 2011? We can’t wait to find out.

Visit our YouTube...

You’ve got to give it to Lionsgate and their aggressive moves into the so-called “urban”/underrepresented markets.

They are the house that Tyler Perry has helped keep afloat for the last roughly 5 years, providing them with access to a previously ignored section of the African American audience that has proven to be very lucrative for the company; and they’ve shown no signs of an appetite curbing, with Precious and the upcoming For Colored Girls, amongst others.

Now the mini studio has set its sights on the Hispanic market, likely hoping to replicate the same kind of success they’ve had with African American audiences.

In a deal to be formally announced some time today, Lionsgate has teamed up with Spanish-language media company, Televisa, to launch Pantelion Films, a joint venture that will target the fast-growing Hispanic moviegoing market, with plans to release 8 to 10 movies per year.

The first...

Curvy actress Sofia Vergara's mum made the actress swear not to have her huge breasts reduced to land more film roles. The Colombian pin-up, who briefly dated Tom Cruise, was advised to cut a few breast sizes if she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress at the beginning of her career. She says, "They thought I was too much."

But it only took a call home to help Vergara make up her mind and decide to keep her busty look. She explains, "My mum was like, 'God is going to punish you if you take your t**s off'."

Sofia Vergara appeared as main cast in the ABC TV series "Hot Properties" in 2005. Two years later, she played another situation comedies in ABC "The Knights of Prosperity". She also appeared on the big screen for several movies such as "Chasing Papi" and "Lords of Dogtown".

After such success with this last year, today comes the first in a multi-chapter look at the various cinematic releases hitting the U.S. in 2010.

Each 'Volume' contains brief descriptions and editorial opinion/analysis of around 25-30 films, and at present it's looking to run around nine volumes in length.

Expect the remaining ones to go up between now and the first official weekend of releases on January 8th.

13

Opens: 2010

Cast: Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent

Director: Géla Babluani

Summary: A remake of 2005 French thriller "13 (Tzameti)". A naive young man assumes a dead man's identity and finds himself embroiled in an underground world of power, violence, and chance where men gamble behind closed doors on the lives of other men.

Analysis: Remakes are very common, the same director remaking his own film in English is rarer but still not unheard of ("Funny Games," "Bangkok Dangerous," "The...

After such success with this last year, today comes the first in a multi-chapter look at the various cinematic releases hitting the U.S. in 2010.

Each 'Volume' contains brief descriptions and editorial opinion/analysis of around 25-30 films, and at present it's looking to run around nine volumes in length.

Expect the remaining ones to go up between now and the first official weekend of releases on January 8th.

13

Opens: 2010

Cast: Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent

Director: Géla Babluani

Summary: A remake of 2005 French thriller "13 (Tzameti)". A naive young man assumes a dead man's identity and finds himself embroiled in an underground world of power, violence, and chance where men gamble behind closed doors on the lives of other men.

Analysis: Remakes are very common, the same director remaking his own film in English is rarer but still not unheard of ("Funny Games," "Bangkok Dangerous," "The...

After such success with this last year, today comes the first in a multi-chapter look at the various cinematic releases hitting the U.S. in 2010.

Each 'Volume' contains brief descriptions and editorial opinion/analysis of around 25-30 films, and at present it's looking to run around nine volumes in length.

Expect the remaining ones to go up between now and the first official weekend of releases on January 8th.

13

Opens: 2010

Cast: Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, Mickey Rourke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent

Director: Géla Babluani

Summary: A remake of 2005 French thriller "13 (Tzameti)". A naive young man assumes a dead man's identity and finds himself embroiled in an underground world of power, violence, and chance where men gamble behind closed doors on the lives of other men.

Analysis: Remakes are very common, the same director remaking his own film in English is rarer but still not unheard of ("Funny Games," "Bangkok Dangerous," "The...

If you thought Burlesque topped out on the sexy-o-meter, think again. Former Dancing With the Stars performer and country music singer, Julianne Hough, will join Christina Aguilera and the newly cast Kristen Bell on the upcoming musical. (Three blonds and counting…)

Hough was in rehearsal over the weekend for the role of a <gasp> dancer.

The artist formerly known as X-Tina <shudder> plays a small-town gal who lands at a struggling venue and disrupts the established dance-pack order. No word if Hough will be part of Kristen Bell’s snobby side of elites or Aguilera’s side of “good girls.”

Burlesque also stars Cher and Stanley Tucci and is directed by Steve Antin (Chasing Papi).

The musical will land in theaters in November of 2010.

Related posts:Kristen Bell to strip with Christina Aguilera in ‘Burlesque’Lindsay Lohan makes it official: Joins cast of ‘Machete’Bruce Willis to join ‘The Expendables’ – Joins Arnold Schwarzenegger...

In a follow-up to Samuel Zimmerman's interview with Director Pablo Proenza and his wife/Producer Erin Ploss-Campoamor in the current Fangoria #285 (on-sale now), Fango's Matt Molgaard catches up with actress Lisa Vidal (of ER, and the recent Star Trek) to discuss her starring turn in Dark Mirror - which won over fans at Fango's recent Los Angeles Weekend of Horrors, and has quickly become the most watched film in the history of IFC Films Festival Direct Video-on-Demand platform.

Fangoria/Matt Molgaard: For those who haven’t seen the film; how would you describe Dark Mirror?

Lisa Vidal: I kind of see it as a psychological thriller, and I really see a real story. That’s why I loved the script when I read it. It had a real story in dealing with real issues. So you know, I just see it as this real story that turns into a rollercoaster ride,...

Roadside Attractions

A would-be heartwarming drama that also subtly extends a pro-life message, Bella is a modest indie. While Alejandro Gomez Monteverde's film has its heart in the right place, its effectiveness is ultimately hampered by its awkward and maudlin execution.

The simple story line concerns the interactions between two characters: Nina (Tammy Blanchard), a young, single waitress who has just learned that she's pregnant, and Jose (Eduardo Verastegui, Chasing Papi), the strangely mournful chef at the Mexican restaurant where she works.

When the flustered Nina shows up late after learning of her pregnancy, she's fired by her annoyed boss. She spends the rest of the day contemplating whether to have an abortion, accompanied by the sympathetic, hooky-playing Jose.

Not much happens in the course of the film, save for the pair enjoying a home-cooked meal at Jose's parents' house in which some life lessons are dispensed along with the authentic Mexican food.

While the lead characters indeed are sympathetic, their internal travails are rendered in such a maudlin fashion that the overly talky proceedings verge on unintentional humor. By the time Bella reaches its Hallmark Card-style conclusion, set of course on a beautiful stretch of beach, one is far too aware of the filmmaker's manipulations.

Madonna is among the executive producers of the VH1 original film 30 Days Until I'm Famous, which has been scheduled for May 7. Her Maverick Films shingle is producing the music-driven romantic comedy with Screenvest P4. Gabriela Tagliavini (Ladies Night) directs from a script by Laura Angelica Simon (Chasing Papi). Maggie Moreno (The Help) stars as a Latina messenger plucked from obscurity to become a pop star. Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints) and Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers in Goldmember) also star. Shot in Los Angeles, the film also features original music from Kinky, the Black Eyed Peas, Soraya and Desi Arnaz.

For a low-budget romantic comedy toplined by largely unknown actors, Chasing Papi comes weighted down by expectations. That's because the Fox 2000 release is the latest attempt by the film industry to capitalize on the booming Latino population in the United States, which has proved to be an elusive audience. But if Papi, which arrives in theaters Wednesday, scores, it could pave the way for more Latino-themed films -- a category that Hollywood has long ignored, according to many in both the Latino community and the film industry. "There are a number of people around town with Latino projects on the back burner right now just waiting to see how 'Papi' does," says Christy Haubegger, a CAA agent who advises clients on marketing to Latino audiences. "It is an unfair burden for this movie to bear -- to represent not only its entire category or genre but an entire community." Unfair, perhaps, but not surprising, considering the industry's copycat mentality and the widespread belief that the Latino market has been largely underserved considering its size and appetite for movies. Latinos have the potential to be a potent boxoffice force -- though they account for 13% of the current U.S. population, they line up for 15% of U.S. movie admissions, according to the MPAA.