Puerto Rican rapper Residente will make his directorial debut with “Porto Rico,” and the film will feature an all-star lineup, including Bad Bunny in the lead role.
Also joining the cast are Academy Award-nominated actors Javier Bardem, Edward Norton and Viggo Mortensen.
The film explores the complicated colonial history of Puerto Rico through Western/historical drama storytelling devices.
For Residente — whose birth name is René Pérez Joglar — this announcement is the result of a two-year effort to get his movie into production.
In February 2023, it was announced that Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris — who co-wrote “Birdman” and “The Revenant” alongside Alejandro González Iñárritu — helped Pérez Joglar pen the upcoming film’s script.
González Iñárritu will serve as an executive producer for the film.
“I have dreamed of making a film about my country since I was a child. Puerto Rico’s true history has always been surrounded by controversy,” Pérez Joglar said in a statement. “This film is a reaffirmation of who we are — told with the intensity and honesty that our history deserves.”
While being his feature debut, this is not Pérez Joglar’s first time behind the camera.
The Puerto Rican music legend directed a short film in 2017 titled “Residente: Desencuentro ft. Soko,” which starred actor Edgar Ramirez. He has also directed nearly 20 of his own music videos.
Pérez Joglar has also previously shown off his capabilities in front of the camera in films such as the critically acclaimed 2024 movie “In the Summers.” He played Vicente, a troubled father, in Colombian American director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s debut feature, which won the top honors at Sundance. Pérez Joglar was also featured in the film “Frank & Louis,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance.
“Everybody knows what a poet of language and rhythm René is. Now they’re going to see what a visual visionary he is as well,” Norton said of Pérez Joglar in a statement. “And bringing him and Bad Bunny together to tell the true story of Puerto Rico’s roots is going to be like a flame finding the stick of dynamite that’s been waiting for it.”
The movie will also mark Bad Bunny’s first turn in a leading role. The Puerto Rican star has tried his hand at acting several times over the last few years. Most recently, he had a small role in Darren Aronofsky’s 2025 movie “Caught Stealing,” where he played the Puerto Rican mobster Colorado. Also in 2025, he had a supporting role in “Happy Gilmore 2” as the golf caddie, Oscar Mejías, alongside Adam Sandler.
In 2023, Bad Bunny acted with Gael Garcia Bernal in the wrestling drama “Cassandro” and in 2022 he had a small part in the Brad Pitt-led action film “Bullet Train.”
A release date for “Porto Rico” has yet to be announced.
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