AppleTV+ GIves Series Order to Eugenio Derbez-Starrer “Acapulco,” Inspired By His “How to Be A Latin Lover” Film

Eugenio Derbez has found the Apple(TV) of his eye…

AppleTV+ has given a series order to Acapulco, a Spanish and English-language half-hour comedy executive produced and starring the 59-year-old Mexican actor, comedian and filmmaker.

Eugenio Derbez

The project is inspired by Derbez’s hit 2017 feature comedy How to Be A Latin Lover.

Acapulco hails from Lionsgate Television, studio-based The Tannenbaum Company, as well as Derbez and Benjamin Odell’s 3Pas Studios.

 

Created by Austin Winsberg, Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman, Acapulcocenters on a young Mexican man, who’s dream comes true when he gets the job of a lifetime at the hottest resort in Acapulco. But he soon realizes the job is far more complicated than he ever imagined as all of his beliefs and morals start to be questioned. The show takes place in 1984 with Derbez narrating and playing the present-day version of the main character.

InHow to Be a Latin Lover,produced by 3Pas Studios and distributed by Pantelion Films, Lionsgate’s venture with Televisa, an out-of-shape former gigolo (Derbez) is left to fend for himself after the rich older woman he’d married 25 years ago dumps him for a younger man.

Gaz Alazraki will direct and executive produce the pilot.

Derbez’s feature film Instructions Not Included, which he directed, co-wrote and starred in, became the most successful Spanish language film in the U.S. and worldwide, grossing more than $100 million worldwide. Cisneros served as an associate producer on the movie.

Derbez Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal with Pantelion Films

Eugenio Derbez is ready to make more crossover films… And, he now has the support to produce them.

The 53-year-old Mexican writer, director and star of the hit Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Lionsgate/Grupo Televisa’s Pantelion Films.

Eugenio Derbez

The pact keeps Derbez in business with the label that released his record-setting Spanish-language film last year.

The deal was made via Derbez’s newly launched 3PasStudios, a partnership with former Pantelion president of production Benjamin Odell. 3Pas will focus on Spanish- and English-language films targeted at Latino and crossover audiences in the U.S.

Instructions Not Included became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. when it opened last year. Pantelion also is behind biopic Cantinflas which has pulled in $3.6M since it opened last weekend in 382 theaters.

Derbez’s film credits include Under The Same Moon, also among the highest-grossing Spanish language films released in the U.S.

He and Odell first worked together on Sangre de Mi Sangre in 2006, starring Derbez, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and for which Odell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Odell also produced Pantelion’s 2012 release Girl In Progress, starring Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette and Derbez, and he is producing Pantelion’s upcoming drama Spare Parts, starring Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis and George Lopez, scheduled for release on January 16, 2015.