From Fast X to Blue Beetle and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, big and small screens are ready to blow up with the amount of Latine talent audiences will see in movies coming in 2023.
Hopefully, the representation will make a big dent in the amount of Latines getting the opportunity to break into Hollywood. Late last year, a study by the Latino Donor Collaborative revealed that Latines playing the lead roles in the film industry in 2022 dropped to 5.2 percent from 7.4 percent in 2021. In 2018, the percentage was at 1.4. The total population in the U.S. is 19 percent Latine.
But with every year comes an opportunity for change and growth from the stories created and brought to life by Hollywood. Because of that, below are 10 movies with at least one Latine actor in the main cast that will premiere in 2023. We’ll see how these possible blockbusters fare and how much support they get from Latine audiences.
1
Shotgun Wedding
The action-packed romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding features Jennifer Lopez as a bride whose destination wedding gets interrupted when a group of armed pirates take her family hostage. Alongside her fiancé (Josh Duhamel), Lopez must maneuver her way around an island and save her wedding guests before it’s too late. Partly shot in the Dominican Republic, the film also stars Latine talent like Cheech Marin (Maya and the Three), Sonia Braga (Wonder), and Callie Hernandez (La La Land).
Shotgun Wedding premieres on Prime Video on January 27, 2023.
2
Magic Mike's Last Dance
Oscar nominee Salma Hayek (Frida) gets up close and personal with Channing Tatum in the third installment of the Magic Mike movie franchise. In the new sequel Magic Mike’s Last Dance, Hayek plays a theater producer who is casting an all-male dance stage production. Earlier this year, Tatum said he wanted Last Dance “to be the Super Bowl of stripping … I want dancing like we’ve never been able to do in the other two movies.” With Hayek in the mix, we’re sure he’ll have all the inspiration he needs to dance well.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance premieres in theaters on February 10, 2023.
3
Scream VI
Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and Melissa Barrera (In the Heights) reprise their roles as the Carpenter sisters in the sixth installment of the Scream franchise. This time, Ortega and Barrera move as far away from Woodsboro as possible. In New York City, they hope to start their lives on a clean slate and forget about almost getting murdered by the horror movie series serial killer. Their change in address from the West Coast to the East Coast, however, doesn’t go as well as they’d hoped since the Ghostface killer shows up again wielding another sharp knife.
Scream VI premieres in theaters on March 6, 2023.
4
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Michelle Rodriguez (F9: The Fast Saga) plays Holga Kilgor, a barbarian who is a member of a band of thieves on a quest to save the world against dragons and evil wizards and to find a powerful golden helmet. The movie is based on a tabletop role-playing game. “The Dungeons & Dragons world has amazing creatures,” Rodriguez said. “In this one, I think they outdid themselves.”
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premieres in theaters on March 31, 2023.
5
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Anya Taylor-Joy lends her voice to Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom in the animated film based on the Super Mario Bros. franchise. In the new movie, Peach teams up with Mario (Chris Pratt), Luigi (Charlie Day), and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) to defeat their evil arch-nemesis Bowser (Jack Black). Don’t expect a damsel-in-distress-type of character in this version, however. Peach doesn’t have time to wait around for a white knight (or plumber) to save her. She can handle her own business.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie premieres in theaters on April 7, 2023.
6
Fast X
Michelle Rodriguez gets her name mentioned for a second time on this list, this time for the 10th installment of The Fast Saga. Details about the new movie are limited, but it’s important to remind everyone that in the last movie, audiences found out that Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) father was played by JD Pardo, which means that this entire time Dom’s character has been Latine. His ethnic background is confirmed now that Oscar-winner Rita Moreno (West Side Story) has joined the cast to play Dom’s grandma.
Fast X premieres in theaters on May 19, 2023.
7
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Oscar Isaac lends his voice to Miguel O’Hara, an alternative version of Spider-Man from the future known as Spider-Man 2099. Isaac described his character as “the one Spider-Man that doesn’t have a sense of humor.” Joining Isaac in the cast is actress Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter), who reprises her role as Miles Morales’ mother, Rio Morales. And of course, we can’t to see Miles Morales, who is Afro-Latino, to save the day and show what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premieres at theaters on June 2, 2023.
8
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
In the seventh live-action installment of the Transformers movie franchise, Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) plays Noah, a Brooklyn-based, ex-military electronics expert, who is caught at the center of another intergalactic war on Earth. This time, the movie takes inspiration from the animated series Beast Wars: Transformers and includes animal-inspired robots known as Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons.
“I was so pumped that [director] Steven [Caple Jr.] and the rest of the team were committed to making this the biggest Transformers movie they could possibly make with all new elements and characters and with crazy visual effects,” Ramos told Remezcla in early December 2022. “I was pumped that I got my own Transformer!”
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts premieres in theaters on June 9, 2023.
9
Blue Beetle
DC Comics is going all in with the Latine talent for Blue Beetle, the story of Jaime Reyes, a teenager from El Paso, Texas, who finds a mystical artifact known as a scarab that gives him superhero powers via some high-tech body armor. Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) has been brought on to direct the superhero movie, which stars Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) in the title role. Other Latine talent in the film includes Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Trujillo, and Harvey Guillén.
Blue Beetle premieres in theaters on August 18, 2023.
10
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
In the prequel to The Hunger Games movie franchise, Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) plays Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from District 12. Songbirds and Snakes is adapted from the 2020 book by Suzanne Collins, the author of the original Hunger Games series. Don’t forget that Zegler will also be seen on the big screen in a secondary role earlier this year in the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March 17).
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes premieres in theaters on November 17, 2023.