In the past couple of weeks, three movies have been heavily promoted to Hispanic audiences in the U.S. Interestingly, each has a unique appeal and niche audience but ultimately an in-culture story at heart (depending on the segment). First in the trio is A-list biopic ’El Cantante’ a project near and dear the heart of its stars and producers Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. While the movie did not set any box office records, it succeeded in bringing the life of Fania star Hector Lavoe to the big screen. The movie stars took on the persona of Lavoe and his dear Puchi and paraded all over the Spanish-language media, but also in general market media to the tune of E!, Entertainment Tonight and many glossies.
Then, last weekend, Tego Calderon’s turn at the Big Screen made the rounds. Along with an all Latino cast, Tego is featured on the film ’Illegal Tender’, a story about investment bankers, the Bronx and a family fleeing from gangsters. This movie was shot between New York and Puerto Rico (El Cantante also had some filming in the island). Since the story appeals more to the acculturated and to youth to promote it, Universal Studios hijacked MTV3rs and Tego and cast also made the rounds on Mun2.
And this week, what seems like a string of movies about and featuring Hispanics is completed with a movie aimed at first-generation Spanish dominant Latinos. When I first saw the trailer, I thought of Danny Ocean and his gang, or even The Italian Job, and Ladron que Roba a Ladron does not pretend to stray far from that. Heavily promoted through Univision, the film is in Spanish and features Mexican stars such as Saul Lizaso, soap opera sweetheart Fernando Columbo and Colombia’s own Pedro el Escamoso, Miguel Varoni.
All in a month’s work, an example of segmentation coming from the movie industry.
Now, in a year of record-breaking summer ticket sales of $4 billion and such blockbuster hits (many of them trequels) Bourne Ultimatum, Spiderman 3, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean and Ratatouille to name a few, why have these movies not found an audience? The question leads back to quality, story telling and engaging audiences. For a Hispanic family to fork over more than $10 a piece for a movie ticket, same as any other consumer, they will choose what they think is good. According to the most recently availbale breakdown, Hispanics are estimated to account for 20% of total ticket sales. The paltry $5 million or so from El Cantante, and the $2 million so far for Illegal Tender are nowhere near capturing that potential. A case in point, last year’s Pan’s Labyrith made $37 million in the U.S. and won Oscars, and in 2004 The Motorcycle Diaries made $16 million domestically — both with Latino casts and in-culture stories.
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