Photo Credit: NFL
Bad Bunny is set to star in an ‘epic Caribbean western’ directed by rapper René “Residente” Pérez Joglar as a love letter to Puerto Rico. The film, ‘Porto Rico’ will also star Viggo Mortensen, Edward Norton, and Javier Bardem.
The development of Porto Rico was first announced back in 2023, with Residente and screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris working together on the screenplay. The film at the time was described as a historical drama based on the life of Puerto Rican revolutionary José Maldonado Román and set on the island in the late 19th century. José Maldonado Román fought against colonialism on the island by leading a gang of ex-convicts to free Puerto Rico.
“I have dreamed of making a film about my country since I was a child,” Residente told Deadline. “Puerto Rico’s true history has always been surrounded by controversy. This film is a reaffirmation of who we are—told with the intensity and honesty that our history deserves.”
Puerto Rico was named by the Spaniards who colonized the Caribbean island, but the indigenous Taino people referred to the island as Borikén. In 1898, Spain ceded sovereignty of the island after losing the Spanish-American War. On December 10, 1898, the island nation became a U.S. territory, with its citizen granted U.S. citizenship in 1917 via the Jones Act. Under U.S. rule, the island was known as Porto Rico from 1900 to 1932 until Congress reverted to the Spanish spelling.
Bad Bunny’s involvement in the film arrives hot on the heels of his mega-performance at the Super Bowl half time show earlier this month. The entire 13-minute set was a tribute to the tiny island nation, where Bad Bunny was born Benito Martínez Ocasio in 1994. The show was watched by around 128.2 million viewers according to Nielsen estimates, while spiking searches for Puerto Rico island searches by 245% in the lead-up to that performance.
Last year the Puerto Rico native sang his own love letter to the island with a Puerto Rico-exclusive residency that saw multiple dates designated as locals only. That monster residency in Puerto Rico is estimated to have added $300 million to the Puerto Rican economy from both locals and visitors flying in to see the show.
