By Bel Hernandez Castillo
Not only is actor/comedian Eugenio Derbez beloved in his home country of Mexico, he has also become a box office name in the U.S. and by extension, the world, recently appearing in the Oscar-winning film CODA. Next, the world gets to experience his comedic talent in the English-language remake of the French hit The Valet, when it premieres as a Hulu Original (May 20) in the U.S. and Internationally on Disney+ as a Star Original. Richard Wong is set to direct.
The Valet centers around a movie star Olivia (Samara Weaving) who enlists a parking valet (Derbez) at a Beverly Hills restaurant to pose as her lover to cover-up her relationship with a married billionaire (Max Greenfield). As a valet, hard-working Antonio usually flies under the radar but his ruse with Olivia thrusts him into the spotlight and brings him to see himself more clearly than ever before. “Its message of unity, seeing each other and human connection, is something the world could use right now and no one does that better than Hulu and Disney+,“ said Wong.
Derbez’s “crossover success” from television and film star in Mexico to the U.S. was sealed when he started appearing in films that were slanted with U.S. Latinos in mind. One of the first films he made for the U.S. market was Bajo La Misma Luna/Under The Same Moon (2007) which was a Mexico/U.S. co-production written by Lijiah Villalobos and directed by Patricia Riggen. Derbez had a small but pivotal role in this film, but it was enough for him to realize that he had millions of fans in the U.S.
Mexican-Americans are 66% of all U.S. Latinos and they are familiar, or their parents are familiar with the show Derbez co-created, co-directed, and starred in, the family sitcom La familia P. Luche, as they watched it on U.S. Spanish language networks. He realized that there was a substantial audience that would support his content in the U.S.
This notion was put to the test when he produced his first film marketed in the U.S., Instructions Not Included (2013) which he directed, co-wrote, and starred in. It became the most successful Spanish-language film in the U.S. and worldwide broke numerous box-office records, earning more than $100 million worldwide. $44.4 million of that was earned in the U.S., with the help of the U.S. Latino market with MPAA has noted purchase 26% of all movie tickets.
Derbez produced and starred in a string of films beginning with Instructions Not Included which was followed by How To Be A Latin Lover (2017), and Overboard (2018). In between producing his films he took on co-starring roles in high-profile studio films like Miracles From Heaven (2016) for Columbia Pictures, Dora and the Lost City of Gold for Paramount, and recently CODA for Apple TV+. He has solidified his role in the U.S. as an actor that can “carry” a movie, meaning it will make a return on investment at the box office.
Some would say that Derbez has found a winning formula. The one thing his films have in common is the casting, mixing known general market actors in the U.S. and Mexican actors. This winning combination has worked for his previous films and it is the same formula in play with The Valet. Betsy Brandt (Life in Pieces), Marisol Nichols (Riverdale, Criminal Minds), Noemi Gonzalez (Selena: The Series), Carmen Salinas (legendary Mexican actress who recently died), Ravi Patel (Wonder Woman), Tiana Okoye, Diany Rodriguez (The Blacklist), Mexican actor Armando Hernández, Carlos Santos (Gentefied), Amaury Nolasco (Hightown, Prison Break), John Pirucello (Godzilla vs. Kong) and Alex Fernandez (Mayans MC) round out the rest of the cast with Reggaeton superstar Lunay set to make his film acting debut.
“The Valet is a multi-generational, multicultural comedy in which people from two different worlds discover the humanity in each other, Derbez and his 3Pas production company partner Benjamin Odell said in a joint statement. “ At 3pas studios we tell stories that try to unite us all and we love partnering with Hulu+ and Disney+ to bring this to the largest global audience possible.”
For the most part, in the domestic film world, Derbez has established himself as an actor that can carry, as well as produce a film that delivers box office numbers. He is now looking to conquer the international market.
The Valet is written by Rob Greenberg & Bob Fisher, the team that penned Derbez’s hit film Overboard, which took in $95 million worldwide. Derbez and Odell’s 3Pas Studios banner is currently producing the television series Acapulco, which recently got picked up for a 2nd season by Apple TV.