Bad Bunny and René Pérez, known by his artistic name Residente, have a lot in common. They are both musicians, yes, but above all, they are boundary‑pushing artists whose careers have evolved in unexpected ways. Both are also Puerto Rican — an identity they proudly carry and reflect in their art. And now, their paths will cross once again, with their homeland at the center.
The singer and recent Super Bowl halftime performer, 31, will star in the first film directed by Pérez, which will be titled Porto Rico. Alongside him will be another exceptional lead, an Academy Award winner: Javier Bardem. EL PAÍS has learned this exclusively.
The project — which Pérez is directing, writing, and coproducing — is still in its early stages but the cast already includes Hollywood heavyweights. In addition to Bardem, Edward Norton, 56, known for films such as Fight Club and American History X and a four‑time Oscar nominee, will also be involved, both as an actor and as a producer. Viggo Mortensen, 67, a three‑time Oscar nominee who played Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and starred in A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, will also appear in the film.
The film will be produced by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, and the script is co‑written by Residente himself alongside New Yorker Alexander Dinelaris, 57, who won an Oscar in 2015 for Birdman. The concert promoter Live Nation, through its film production division, Live Nation Studios, is also involved in financing the feature.
Dinelaris and Pérez have written a feature film about the homeland of both Bad Bunny and Residente, a project Pérez has long dreamed of making. Puerto Rico is considered an unincorporated territory of the United States, a status that leaves its citizens second‑class rather than full citizens. For example, although they can participate in Democratic and Republican primaries, they cannot vote in general elections; they have only one representative in Congress, the so‑called resident commissioner, who has a voice but no vote in the legislative branch.
It seems clear that, from the film’s title alone, the island and its political situation will play a major role. Few details have been revealed, but the film is described as “an epic Caribbean western and historical drama” that “combines a large‑scale historical narrative with a visceral and lyrical approach, in a powerful story inspired by real events,” the production team says. When the Americans arrived on the island, they called it Porto Rico — a name that lasted three decades — because they were unable to pronounce the full name. The fact the movie is called Porto Rico hints that the late‑19th‑century history of the island will be a key part of the plot.
“I’ve dreamed of making a film about my country since I was a child,” Residente, 47, said in a statement. “The true history of Puerto Rico has always been surrounded by controversy. This film is a reaffirmation of who we are, told with the intensity and honesty our story deserves.”
Bad Bunny and Residente have collaborated on several occasions. They’ve done so musically, but also as activists fighting for their island; for example, they both took part in the 2019 summer protests in San Juan that led to the resignation of the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló — even meeting with him at his own residence. Now, they’ll be joining forces on their first major film project.
This is not Pérez’s first foray into acting. In addition to starring in his meticulously crafted music videos and those of his band Calle 13, he has made cameos in series and films such as Old Dogs (2009). He also starred in the Mexican film In the Summers (2024), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and had a leading role in the prison drama Frank & Louis, which has just been released. As a director, he has helmed his own videos, but never a project of this scale. This creative side of him led to the founding of his own studio, 1868 Studios, together with Sony Music.
For his part, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, aside from being one of the most popular musicians in the world — his songs reached nearly 20 billion streams on Spotify in 2025; his residency in Puerto Rico broke records, and he is now performing sold‑out shows around the globe — has also dabbled in acting. He has appeared in his own videos, in music documentaries, and on Saturday Night Live, but never in anything of this magnitude or in a leading role. In 2021, he made his debut in the ninth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise and also appeared in four episodes of Narcos: Mexico in its third season.
The following year, his appearance in the action film Bullet Train, starring Brad Pitt — with whom he engaged in a spectacular knife‑fight scene — drew significant attention. In 2023, he appeared in Cassandro, the true story of a Mexican wrestler’s rise to fame, starring Gael García Bernal, with whom he shared scenes. Last year, he took part in two projects: Happy Gilmore 2, a Netflix comedy with Adam Sandler; and Caught Stealing, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, set in the criminal underworld of 1990s New York.
In addition to Mortensen and Norton, more stars are expected to join the project. Norton, who is also producing, said in a statement that “this film follows in the tradition of movies we deeply love, from The Godfather to Gangs of New York, films that hit us with visceral drama and iconic characters and eras, but that also force us to confront the shadow history beneath the American narrative of idealism.” He added: “Everyone knows René as a poet of language and rhythm; now they will also see the visual visionary he is. And bringing him together with Bad Bunny to tell the true story of Puerto Rico’s roots will be like a flame meeting the stick of dynamite that’s been waiting for it.”
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