Spanish Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Running March 13-17, the Málaga Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content weigh in this year as one of the biggest dedicated Spanish movie platforms in history, boasting also a strong line in Latin American arthouse projects and productions. 10 Takes as the event kicks off, blessed by early Spring sunshine, in the Andalusian city: XXXL In 2022, super-sized by the Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spain’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) AVS Spain Hub, a vibrant Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival industry area, fair exploded, delivering  a sterling confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a platform age, aided by robust state sector backing. This year, Mafiz looks even larger. At 1,560 delegates and counting as of March 6, Mafiz is tracking to pass 2022’s final attendance figure of around 1,600, Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Festival director told Variety. Participants come from 62 countries, up from 53 last year. “The event’s consolidation is clear,” Vigar added. “It makes us feel that the work we do is useful for the sector,” he adds. 

Talking Prince Harry & Meghan Markle with our Cuban mother.

Karol G is making her mark! The Colombian singer is enjoying the success of her new project ‘Mañana Será Bonito,’ becoming the first woman in history to score No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with an all-Spanish-language album.The 32-year-old musician has achieved a historic record, debuting at the top of the charts. Previously, only two all-Spanish albums led the list, both by Bad Bunny (‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ in 2022 and El Último Tour del Mundo in 2020).Karol G continues to reach for the stars, as her latest collaboration with Shakira has been a total success.

Spanish Screenings Content unspool March 13-16 in the Andalusian coastal city. 

Guy Lodge Film Critic In time, stories like “20,000 Species of Bees” will come to feel as commonplace within the coming-of-age genre as tales of first love or heartbreak: a young girl, unhappy in her skin and at odds with her family, finally recognizes her gender over the course of one pivotal summer, and persuades others to recognize it too. For now, Spanish writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s mellow, softly piercing debut feature joins the likes of Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy” and Emanuele Crialese’s “L’Immensità” in a select but growing canon of trans or nonbinary childhood studies. Unassuming and meanderingly character-oriented, the film doesn’t assert itself as an issue drama — in large part because, as Solaguren presents her eight-year-old protagonist’s gradual steps toward self-realization, her film doesn’t see much of an issue to begin with.

Liza Foreman He’s become one of Spain’s most successful auteur directors of big audience hits. Now director-writer-producer Alex de la Iglesia (“The Day of the Beast,” “30 Coins”) and producing partner, the actor-producer Carolina Bang (“The Last Circus”), have turned to wayward soccer players for their latest TV outing, HBO Max show “Headless Chickens.” The starting point for this upcoming Spanish series is curiosity, Bang explained at an afternoon Q&A session at the Berlinale Series Market on Tuesday scheduled in the Next from Spain strand. “Alex and I don’t like soccer very much but we have a lot of curiosity about the industry,” said Bang. “You have a lot of young people that became very rich very quickly. It destroys your head.”

A high school teacher has reportedly been stabbed to death by a pupil during a Spanish lesson.

Holly Jones In a knock-out deal, Ignacio Cucucovich and Gustavo Hernández of Montevideo-based Mother Superior Films have acquired rights to Spanish boxer and entertainer José Luis ‘Dum Dum’ Pacheco’s life story, starting with his autobiography, “Mear Sangre.” “Dum Dum is a living reflection of a generation that’s managed to overcome many blows at a difficult time in history. He was born into a humble home, imprisoned at a very young age,” Cucucovich told Variety. “In addition, the era the story would encompass is fascinating to us, full of freedoms gaining ground, young people exploring and developing, in success and error, a lot of creative abundance, in a constant clash with what society then considered correct. It was a time of discovery and creation.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar Spanish producers taking part in a Spanish content showcase at the Berlinale Series Market on Monday debated what was jokingly referred to as the “devil’s bargain” offered by major streaming platforms that are propelling Spanish shows around the globe often at the cost of IP ownership.    Álex de la Iglesia of Madrid-based production powerhouse Pokeepsie Films said the company for years retained the IP of films that played in local cinemas. “We assumed there was no other model. Now, maybe we lose our IP, but suddenly our movies are in the houses of the whole planet. Maybe you have to sell your soul to these ‘diabolical’ platforms,” he joked. “But I can only say that working with the devil is worth it.,” he added.

Liza Foreman ZDF Studios has signed a deal to distribute the second season of the remake of the iconic Spanish horror series “Stories to Stay Awake” (“Historias Para No Dormir”). The series is a reboot of the classic series created by Spain’s Chicho Ibáñez Serrador in the 1960s which proved a milestone in Spanish horror, introducing Spain to classic tales from Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe,   The deal sees ZDF Studios taking distribution rights to “Stories” in all territories outside Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America, which will be handled by Paramount Global Content Distribution. ZDF operated in the same capacity for the first season.

The battle for success on the new drama series scene is the battle for talent, led by screenwriters. Following, portraits of Spanish TV scribes or creators, sometimes writing teams, who’ve made an impact, or look set to do so: 2022 was Araujo’s year. He co-wrote Berlin Competition’s “One Night, One Day” and “Rapa,” Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow. “Offworld,” a collective series he coordinated, was a Variety’s International TV Show of the Year. An iconoclast – “if I do the same thing, I get bored,” he says –  who tears up the rule book. Best known for acting, winning at Malaga for “The Wild Ones,” but a driving force as co-creator, director and star behind “This Is Not Sweden” a €1.5 million grant recipient and groundbreaking Spain-Scandinavia-Germany co-pro, turning on a couple who think they’ve found a model lifestyle. But “there are no guarantees,” says Clotet. 

Rich Hull is shifting to an advisory role at TelevisaUnivision in the wake of the Hispanic media giant’s acquisition of Vix, the Spanish-language streaming service he founded.

Spain boasts a bullish presence at the Berlinale. Following, short profiles of its features that have made the festival cut and a selection of top titles being moved at the European Film Market: Director: Estíbaliz Urresola Spain’s Berlin competition player is from Urresola, director of Cannes Critics’ Week short “Chords.” Film takes place in a Basque Country village and is a celebration of female sexual diversity. Catalonia’s Inicia Films (“La Maternal”) produces with Gariza Films (“Nora”). Sales: Luxbox

Sebastian Yatra is dropping a new single tomorrow called “Una Noche Sin Pensar.” It’s the first song he will release after six months, and is coming with a steamy and sensual music video. The Colombian singer has been teasing fans with what’s to come, and he bares it all with Spanish actress, Milena Smit.A post shared by Sebastian Yatra (@sebastianyatra)Yatra and Smit get intimate in the video, making out passionately, swimming naked, and holding each other close.

Barcelona, a notable holiday hotspot for British and international tourists, is the latest Spanish location to propose plans to help lower visitor numbers.

Karol G made one of her dreams come true at the Super Bowl, following Rihanna’s halftime show. The Colombian singer shared a sweet moment backstage with her idol, posing for some pictures and interacting in Spanish.“As a fan I have to say that this was the HIGHLIGHT of my whole life!!!” the musician shared.

Spanish director Carlos Saura has died at home in Spain at the age of 91.

Spanish-born fashion designer Paco Rabanne, who was best known for his metallic space-age outfits, has died in France at the age of 88 years old.

From Jesus’s ripped physique to the Song of Solomon, there’s something about Christian iconography that’s just a little bit sexy. And if you haven’t noticed that yet, you certainly will after seeing “Mamacruz,” the second film from Venezuelan writer-director Patricia Ortega (“Yo, Imposible”).

Bethenny Frankel did not hold back her thoughts on Hilaria Baldwin!

The rise and fall of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I will be told in a Sky docu-series later this year that will be teased at Berlin.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix doubled its Spanish TV originals last year and premiered way more from the UK and Japan as U.S. content now represents less than half of its library, according to a report from media analyst Enders Analysis seen by Deadline.

Tory peer Michelle Mone’s businessman husband could be facing a lengthy jail sentence if found guilty of fraud charges in Spain. Billionaire Doug Barrowman has been charged with crimes including corporate tax evasion.

Across 13 days and 48 Group Stage matches, Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.07 million viewers across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and Telemundo streaming platforms, up 5% vs. the 2018 tournament (1.97 million). 

Director and co-writer Carla Simón tells a story that’s close to her heart in Alcarràs, Spain’s entry for the International Feature Oscar race. The tale of peach farmers facing eviction and losing more than their home won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.

Prime Video’s latest Spanish original is supernatural horror series Romancero.

Shakira is fighting back against Spanish authorities who claim she failed to pay taxes while living in the country from 2012 through 2014.

Netflix has said it will clock more than 30 Spanish-language projects across film, series, and non-fiction documentaries by the year’s end. The news was unveiled by Verónica Fernández, Director of Series for Spain and Portugal at an event to mark the expansion of the streamer’s production hub in Tres Cantos, Madrid.

Lupita Nyong’o made her dream a reality by filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when she was able to speak Spanish. The Academy Award winner for 12 Years a Slave was born in México City to Kenyan parents.

Two Iowa teens are being accused of the brutal murder of their Spanish teacher — apparently over grades??

EXCLUSIVE: Film Constellation has sealed a raft of deals on Spanish director Juan Galiñanes’s upcoming thriller Fatum, as it continues sales on the title at the AFM with a first promo.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, France, is celebrating its 10th edition this year with a wide-ranging program focusing on bolstering classic film distribution, the prospects of new commercial territories, film education and a focus on Spain’s heritage film sector. The MIFC, which runs Oct. 18-21, kicks off with a keynote by Gian Luca Farinelli, director of Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna film archive. Market organizers praise Farinelli for “allowing classic films to be found, restored, reviewed and, most often, put back on the market firstly through the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, exhibition and distribution activities within the foundation, while maintaining strong links with cinemathques from around the world.”

The European Union police agency Europol said Friday that Spanish police have dismantled an organized crime group believed to have been running Europe’s biggest "narco-bank," used to launder proceeds from international drug trafficking. Europol said the group, composed mainly of Syrians, operated out of a restaurant in an industrial park in the central Spanish town of Fuenlabrada.There, customers could deposit or collect bulk cash and have their earnings laundered by the internationally structured financial network, Europol said. Europol said the group provided financial services to crime gangs linked to drug trafficking in more than twenty countries across the world.

Adam Levine's name has been on fans' lips amid scandal — and now his voice is going to be back in their ears. The Maroon 5 frontman is set to release his first Spanish-speaking song, «Ojalá,» in collaboration with Maluma and The Rudeboyz. Due out on Oct. 20, the track will mark The Rudeboyz's debut single and comes more than a decade after the two producers, Bryan Lezcano Chaverra and Kevin Mauricio Jiménez Londoño, first met and started making music. Meanwhile, this marks the newest music from the 43-year-old musician and soon-to-be father of three since he faced publicized allegations in September of cheating on wife Behati Prinsloo, who is currently pregnant. Among the women who have spoken out about Levine is Sumner Stroh, who alleged she had an affair with the singer for about a year and shared screenshots of purported social media messages from Levine on TikTok.

K.J. Yossman Entertainment One (eOne) have sold their first Soanish language series “Operación Marea Negra” to over 60 territories including the U.S. and Mexico (Roku), Austarlia (SBS), Latin American (AMC Networks Intl), Canada (TELEUS) and Spain (Disney-owned FOX channel). The four-part series is based on the true story of Europe’s first intercepted narco-submarine in November 2019, when three smugglers crossed the Atlantic in a home-made sub-aquatic vessel carrying more than 3,000 kilos of cocaine. After boarding in the middle of the Amazon, they sailed to Europe while enduring terrible conditions including hunger, engine problems and storms before finally being captured on the Galician coast by the Civil Guard.

Emiliano De Pablos Three years ago, platforms were asking Spanish producers for full rights to their TV fiction projects for all territories.  Times have changed. As platforms’ revenues taper off or slow in growth, originals are less habitual. Co-production is increasingly becoming the name of the game. A first-phase boom was triggered by Netflix titles “Money Heist” and “Elite.” Now, Spain is maintaining its momentum, remaining a priority region for Netflix, HBO Max and Prime Video. Newcomers Disney+, Paramount+ and Lionsgate+ have unveiled their first original productions.