By Luis Reyes

Two new big budget studio films, Miss Bala and Alita: Battle Angel are produced by predominantly Latino filmmakers starring Latinas Gina Rodriguez and Rosa Salazar, in the title roles respectively, as new kinds of cinema icons, Kick Ass, Action Heroines.

With Roma leading the way forward, we will have to wait and see if Miss Bala and Alita: Battle Angel mark a new cinematic era for complex fully realized Latina lead roles and the opportunity for Latina actresses to portray them in major motion pictures.”

From Virgin to Badass?

Golden Globe award-winning actress Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin) stars as Gloria in Sony Pictures Miss Bala opening nationwide on Friday February 1.  Miss Bala an English language remake and refashioning of the critically acclaimed 2011 Mexican film of the same name directed by Gerardo Naranjo.

Rodriguez portrays Gloria, a young Mexican-American makeup artist who discovers an inner strength in a dangerous world of cross border crime when she tries to rescue a friend who becomes involved with a violent drug cartel and disappears after winning a beauty contest.  Ismael Cruz Cordova (Ray Donovan) a Puerto Rican actor co-stars as Lino, the charismatic drug cartel leader. Aislinn Derbez plays Isabel. If the last name sounds familiar, the actress is the daughter of famed Mexican actor/producer/director Eugenio Derbez (Latin Lover).  The film also stars Anthony Mackie (The Avengers) and features the additional talents of Ricardo Abarca, Matt Lauria, and Christina Rodlo.

Pablo Cruz (Cesar Chavez) who produced the original film under his production company Canana in Mexico partnered with Kevin Misher (The Scorpion King: Book of Souls) on the remake which shot on location in and around Tijuana, Baja California Mexico. They brought Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight Sagas) to put the new spin into action.

Pablo Cruz (Cesar Chavez) produced the original film and for the remake partners with Kevin Misher shot the remake under the direction of Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight Sagas) on locations in and around Tijuana, Baja California Mexico.  Graciela Mazon(The Mask Of Zorro) served as costume designer for the film.

Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel starring Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner, Divergent) in the title role is a $200 million Twentieth Century Fox production directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids) and a collaboration of a script with James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic) who also produced is producer on this highly anticipated film which opens nationwide in 3D on February 14^th.
Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Marshashala Ali and Jackie Earle Haley also star in this epic adventure of a female cyborg who must rediscover her past that is based on a popular Japanese Anime/Manga based on Yukito Kishiro graphic novel series “Gunnm”.  David Valdes (The Green Mile, Unforgiven) produced along with Cameron and John Landau at Rodriquez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin Texas.

In a recent interview by Mia Galuppo in The Hollywood Reporter’s, Salazar (who is of Peruvian descent) talked about being aware of the star-making impact a movie like Alita can have, “I’m always grateful to be hired, especially as a Latin woman in the business.” She added, “And I’m always grateful when the most essential part of my character isn’t that she is Latin.”

While Miss Bala and Alita Battle Angel are movies for action and Sci-Fi movie fans, both have particular appeal to the under served Latino audience, (which makes up 25% of the movie going audience according to the MPAA) the industry’s most loyal and fastest growing young demographics.  

2017 and 2018 demonstrated that diversity sells tickets with such multi-cultural and multi-ethnic films as Coco, Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther which smashed box office records, not only domestically but also worldwide. On the other end of the spectrum, just two of 2017’s top 100 grossing films featured Latino actors in lead roles

According to USC’s Annenberg inclusion imitative annual report on female and minority film representation. None of 2018’s top 100 films featured a Latina actress in a lead role.

In a just broadcast NPR interview Rodriquez remarked on her trailblazing lead role in Miss Bala,  “ It’s about an ordinary woman who becomes an extraordinary woman and really solidifies her power and finds her strength. If this film is a success, they [the Studios] will make more.”

These two new films arrive hot on the heels of the ten Oscar nominations for Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma including Best actress Yalitza Aparicio and Best Supporting actress Marina de Tavira.

With Roma leading the way forward, we will have to wait and see if Miss Bala and Alita: Battle Angel mark a new cinematic era for complex fully realized Latina lead roles and the opportunity for Latina actresses to portray them in major motion pictures.

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By Bel Hernandez

Two TV shows, Miss Bala Film Premiere, a “Jane” Spinoff and a Starring Role in Warner Bros. Bobbie Sue

When Gina Rodriguez was 14 years old she already knew she wanted to star in her own TV show. Fast forward to the present, she now stars as Jane in the CW’s Jane the Virgin and voices the lead character in Netflix’s Carmen SanDiego (which premiered Jan. 18th) making that now two TV shows. But wait, there is more. Having surpassed her childhood dreams in a matter of weeks, Rodriguez now stars in the film Miss. Bala which opens nationwide on Friday, February 1st.

The Golden Globe award-winning actress Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin) plays Gloria in Sony Pictures’ action-thriller Miss Bala, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer. It is based on the 2011 Mexican film of the same name directed by Gerardo Naranjo and which was on the short list for an Oscar nomination. The remake follows a woman who trains to take down a drug cartel after they kidnap her friend.

Gloria is a young Mexican-American makeup artist from Los Angeles who travels to Tijuana, Mexico to visit her best friend Suzu (Aislin Derbez). When Suzu suddenly disappears at a nightclub Gloria begins a search and rescue mission, and in the process, gets kidnapped. She is forced to smuggle laundered money for the drug cartel. Ismael Cruz Cordova (Ray Donovan) co-stars as Lino, plays the charismatic drug cartel leader with Anthony Mackie as the DEA agent.

Recently Rodriguez explained to the Las Vegas Review-Journal why she is thrilled to finally be playing a “kick-ass” action hero.

“Action films don’t come along too often for women of color. This was a godsend because it’s not only about a female hero, but I also got this beautiful, amazing female director and an incredibly insane — in the best way — Latino director of photography (Patrick Murgia),” she explained. “Also, it’s not often that you get to participate in a film that’s about 95 percent Latino production from cast to crew. I had the opportunity to speak two languages on the set, and I was immersed in a culture that is beautiful and glorious.”

Pablo Cruz (Cesar Chavez) who produced the original Miss Bala in his native Mexico partnered with Kevin Misher (The Scorpion King: Book of Souls) for the remake. The film was shot on location in and around Tijuana, Baja California Mexico. Graciela Mazon (The Mask Of Zorro) served as Costume Designer for the film and Marco Niro was the Production Designer.

As Miss Bala is set to premiere, Rodriguez is busy filming the fifth and final season of Jane the Virgin, playing the title role of Jane Villanueva (the role which made her a household name). Showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman adapted Jane the Virgin for American audiences from the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen which was created by Perla Farías. The final season premieres on March 27 9/8c.

However, Jane will live on in a new pilot spinoff announced just days ago by The CW. The pilot is titled Jane the Novela and is a telenovela-inspired anthology based on Jane Villanueva’s fictional novels. Each season will featuring the story of a different book. The first season will “takes place at a Napa Valley vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long,” the CW said in a statement.

Rodriguez will narrate Jane the Novela and will also executive produce along with Urman. Valentina Garza will pen the pilot script with Brad Silberling slated to direct the pilot.

While still involved in the spinoff, Rodriguez will be closing a very important chapter in her life, as she moves behind the scenes on the spinoff (other than her voice) and moves front and center to the big screen.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. recently announced they have swooped Rodriguez up for her their film Bobbie Sue. This will it the second movie in which she plays the title character, but certainly, not her last.

Rodriguez will be playing Bobbie sue who, having been raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in South Boston, works hard to become an attorney. She is hired by a top law firm and assigned, under false pretenses, to represent their powerful client in his sexual discrimination case. When Sue finds out the truth, she turns on her own law firm in fighting for workers rights.

Charles Stone III (Unlce Drew) is set to direct with Donald De Line producing and Rodriguez and Emily Gipson executive producing. Casting for the other roles is currently underway for a possible production start date by the end of 2019.

Most recently, audiences saw Rodriquez starring alongside Natalie Portman in Paramount’s Annihilation and later this year she will star in another Netflix project, this time a film Someone Great.

In addition to these projects, Rodriguez also has four projects in development that are slated to be produced through her own production company I Can and I Will Productions. The projects range from comedy to drama and animation. Rodriguez will star in and produce the live action movie of Carmen SanDiego through her I Can and I Will Productions. Kevin Misher and Caroline Fraser will produce alongside her with Andy Berman of Misher Films executive producing

Although it has certainly not come easy, Rodriguez’s talent has helped her make her childhood dreams come true, and soar beyond the dream.

Gina Rodriguez is repped by CAA

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