by Luis Reyes
$41 Million to Date & Heading Towards $100 Million Worldwide
The Curse of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman), a film adaptation loosely based on a scary Latin-American folktale known to every Latino man, woman, and child all over the world, was #1 at the nation’s box office Easter weekend with $26 million in tickets sales and in its second weekend grossed $7.5 million according to Box Office Mojo.
It has tallied a domestic total of $41,830,095 million in ticket sales as of April 28th. Adding to that total the foreign box office, the worldwide total is at $87,330,095 in its 10 days of release.
Fifty percent of the domestic U.S. audience attending the film was Latino.
Made by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema for a modest $9 million budget, The Curse of La Llorona was produced by James Wan (The Conjuring franchise) and is directed by Los Angeles native Michael Chaves in his feature film directorial debut.
Chaves began his career directing commercials and most recently directed the Billie Ellis music video Bury a Friend. He came to the attention of producer James Wan with his short film The Maiden, about a real estate agent who sells a haunted house. Chaves posted the film online and within a week secured an agent. Wan saw the short film and handpicked Chaves and was so pleased with his work on La Llorona that he has hired Chaves to direct the upcoming The Conjuring 3.
A Latino film set in Los Angeles with a Latino Cast
Set in 1970’s Los Angeles, the story of a vengeful ghost who abducts the kids of a widowed social worker stars Linda Cardellini (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy Returns), Raymond Cruz (best known as Tuco of Breaking Bad and Julio Sanchez of Closer), and Marisol Ramirez as the woman behind the veil and horrific makeup of La Llorona.
Velasquez hails from Venezuela and Ramirez was born in Panama. Cruz has been working as an actor for more than three decades with an impressive list of credits in both feature films and television. He grew up in East Los Angeles and attended East Los Angeles College. Tony Amendola co-stars as the priest, Father Perez, who was last seen in the horror thriller Annabelle and is a direct connection to the Conjuring cinematic universe.
Director Michael Chaves remarked in a recent interview, “La Llorona is such a Latino cultural touchstone, and beyond …. It’s also a family tradition. In its own unusual way, The Curse of La Llorona is a scary as hell family film though it is rated R.”
Since it is fast approaching the $100 million dollar mark worldwide, The Curse of La Llorona is a certifiable hit and profitable film for the studio and its producers making back ten times its original cost. Further evidence that goes to prove that Latino stories with Latino talent as an essential part of the creative process makes for good cinematic entertainment and business that audiences want to see.