Fast X, Barbie, and The Hunger Games are just some of the huge Hollywood projects featuring Latinas that made a splash at Cinemacon 2023. In the four days when Hollywood hits the highway and heads to Las Vegas for Cinemacon, A-list stars, studio heads, and theater owners from around the globe come to see a smattering of what is to come.
This year, movie studios lavished the Las Vegas crowds with trailers, extended looks, and even entire flicks. Not surprisingly, Latinas were in the thick of it all. Here is a look at what to expect from our famous amigas in the months ahead.
America Ferrera in Barbie
“If I am being honest, I wasn’t a Barbie girl. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings about Barbie,” said Barbie co-star America Ferrera. “By the time I finished the script, I was a Barbie girl and that’s a testament to Greta Gerwig (Barbie’s director).”
Ferrera was one of many Latinos at Cinemacon and joined the film’s director, actress Margo Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Ken) in Las Vegas to preview their film. “It was breathtaking,” says Ferrera, who plays Gloria. “Literally breathtaking. You can take the script and talk about it, but to see it all come together through the magic of movies, well, I just remember it taking my whole breath away.”
Even though Barbie lives in a perfect place adorned with flawless fashion and heels so high she can inhale the clouds, she is facing a full-on existential crisis. With the help of Ken and others, Barbie goes on a hilarious hunt for the truth about the universe complete with rollerblades, neon-colored clothes and planned choreography of course.
Expect to see Ferrera alongside Ariana Greenblatt (In The Heights) when Barbie skates into theaters July 21.
Ariana DeBose in Wish
Moving on from Malibu, Ariana DeBose certainly hit a major high note in Las Vegas. During the Walt Disney Studios presentation, they revealed that the Oscar-winner would be the leading voice of Wish. DeBose plays Asha, a girl who makes a wish on a star and ends up getting a lot more than she wanted. The animated movie also features Chris Pine lending his pipes to the project. Fans of DeBose will be ultra thankful when she serenades moviegoers in theaters everywhere on November 22.
Camila Cabello in Trolls Band Together
Also singing her way onto screens again is Camila Cabello. The musician/actress is Viva in Trolls Band Together and is yet another Latina at Cinemacon. The film’s stars Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick did some singing of their own on the Strip to promote the third film in the Trolls universe.
Cabello, a Latin Grammy winner two times over, is new to the franchise – a franchise that has made over $400 million worldwide between its first two films. Trolls Band Together hit theaters on November 17.
Lupita Nyong’o in A Quiet Place: Day One
On a different note – a much quieter note – we find Lupita Nyong’o in A Quiet Place: Day One. Nyong’o has moved into the lead role for the third chapter in the A Quiet Place franchise. The newest film goes all the way back to the beginning of the alien invasion that started the silence on Earth. A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place II director John Krasinski traveled to Vegas to introduce an extended look centering around Nyong’o’s character. A Quiet Place: Day One returns to theaters in March of 2024.
Rachel Zegler in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Yet another Latina at Cinemacon who is joining a blockbuster franchise is Rachel Zegler. The West Side Story actress is paying tribute by also singing a song of sorts. Zegler will be in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The Golden Globe winner plays Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute who has caught the eye and the attention of Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth) who is tasked with mentoring the beautiful Baird.
Will the two make it past the challenges of the 10th Hunger Games? We aren’t saying. But what we will tell you is that The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes slithers into theaters November 17.
