EXCLUSIVE: Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to El Chicano, a Latino superhero film with an all-Hispanic cast that just had its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It’s the second film for Briarcliff, the upstart distribution venture launched by Open Road founder Tom Ortenberg, after just opening Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9. El Chicano will be released theatrically on March 22, 2019, and sources said the target is 600-800 screens.
El Chicano marks the feature film directorial debut of 25-year veteran stuntman Ben Hernandez Bray, who co-wrote the script with Joe Carnahan. Carnahan produced with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Carnahan’s WarParty partner Frank Grillo. It’s the first wide release for WarParty and its Calgary-based equity partner WarChest.
The action film tells the story of twin brothers Diego and Pedro (both played by Raúl Castillo), who grew up together on the streets of East Los Angeles. As adults, their lives took radically different paths as Diego became a celebrated detective for the LAPD, and Pedro turned to a dead-end life of crime. When clues start connecting Pedro’s death to a case Diego is working on, a mythological figure from his youth, The Ghetto Grim Reaper, draws Diego in deeper than he ever expected. He becomes that figure, an Hispanic version of Batman or Black Panther. The film also stars George Lopez, Aimee Garcia, Emilio Rivera, Kate del Castillo, Mr. Criminal, Noel G. Marco Rodriguez, Marlene Forte, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sal Lopez, David Castañeda and Armida Lopez.
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