How to Be a Latin Lover

Movie Details:

Cast & Characters:

• Eugenio Derbez as Maximo
  • Noel Carabaza as Young Maximo
  • Vadhir Derbez as 21-year-old Maximo
• Salma Hayek as Sara
  • Manelly Zepeda as Young Sara
• Raphael Alejandro as Hugo
• Rob Lowe as Rick the Gigolo
• Kristen Bell as Cindy
• Raquel Welch as Celeste Birch
• Linda Lavin as Millicent Dupont
• Renée Taylor as Peggy
• Rob Riggle as Scott
• Rob Huebel as Nick
• Rob Corddry as Quincy
• Mckenna Grace as Arden
• Mather Zickel as James
• Michaela Watkins as Gwen
• Michael Cera as Remy
• “Weird Al” Yankovic as himself
• Ben Schwartz as Jimmy
• Jeffrey Scott Basham as Valet
• Omar Chaparro as Rafa
• José Eduardo Derbez as Drink Waiter

Storyline:

Having made a career of seducing rich older women, Maximo marries a wealthy woman more than twice his age. Twenty-five years later, spoiled, out of shape, and bored from waking up next to his now 80-year-old wife, he is surprised when she dumps him for a younger McLaren car salesman.

Forced out of his mansion and desperate for a place to stay, he contacts Rick, another pampered gigolo. He crashes into the upscale playhouse of the woman’s granddaughter, which does not go over very well. He soon moves in with his estranged sister, Sara, and her nerdy son, Hugo, in their small apartment.

Anxious to return to the lap of luxury, Maximo uses his nephew’s crush on classmate Arden to get to his new target: her grandmother, Celeste, a widowed billionaire that Rick is also targeting. Maximo tries to reignite his charm as a Latin lover but fails at it miserably. Sara discovers her brother’s scamming and kicks him out. While teaching Hugo some tricks he thinks work on women, Maximo finds himself bonding with his nephew, and this opens his heart to being less selfish and more thoughtful of others.

Eventually, Maximo becomes a gigolo for the woman Rick used to live with, and he patches up the relationship with his sister and nephew.

About Movie:

On June 5, 2015, Eugenio Derbez and Benjamin Odell’s 3Pas Studios, along with Televisa/Lionsgate joint venture Pantelion Films, acquired an untitled comedy script by Chris Spain and Jon Zack, with Lionsgate set to release it under its first-look deal. On October 26, 2015, Ken Marino was announced as the director, with Derbez in the lead role.

On April 28, 2016, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, and Rob Riggle joined the cast, alongside Renée Taylor, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins, and Linda Lavin. Mckenna Grace was added to the cast on May 11, 2016.

The 21-year-old Maximo was portrayed by Derbez’s real-life son, while another son, José Eduardo, played the waiter at the party—both experienced actors in Mexico.

The first trailer premiered on December 21, 2016, and the film was released on April 28, 2017, by Lionsgate’s Pantelion Films. It was the first American film to be released simultaneously in its original English version and dubbed into Spanish. It also marked Raquel Welch’s final film before her passing in 2023.

How to Be a Latin Lover grossed $32.1 million in the United States and Canada and $30.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $62.6 million, against a production budget of $10–13 million. The Apple TV+ series Acapulco was inspired by this film.

A French remake, How to Be a French Lover (Just a Gigolo in French-speaking markets), was released in April 2019. Directed by Olivier Baroux and co-written by Baroux and Kad Merad, it starred Kad Merad, Anne Charrier, Pascal Elbé, and Thierry Lhermitte.

Budget & Box Office Collection: