Eugenio Derbez Comedy ‘The Valet’ Moves From Lionsgate to Hulu
“The Valet” is switching distributors.
The upcoming comedy starring Eugenio Derbez of “Instructions Not Included” fame was originally set up for release by Lionsgate. It’s been sold to the Walt Disney Company, which will release it domestically on Hulu in summer 2022. “The Valet” will be released internationally on Disney Plus as a Star Original.
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The film is an English-language remake of a French film of the same name. It is directed by Richard Wong (“Come as You Are”) and co-stars Samara Weaving (“Ready or Not”).
The cast also includes Max Greenfield, Betsy Brandt, Marisol Nichols, Noemi Gonzalez, Carmen Salinas, Ravi Patel, Tiana Okoye, Diany Rodriguez, Armando Hernández, Carlos Santos, Amaury Nolasco, John Pirucello and Alex Fernandez. Reggaeton superstar Lunay will make his film acting debut.
Weaving plays Olivia, a movie star who enlists Antonio (Derbez), a parking valet, to pose as her lover to cover for a relationship with a married man (Greenfield). As a valet, the hard-working Antonio usually flies under the radar, but his ruse with Olivia thrusts him into the spotlight and brings him to see himself more clearly than ever before.
“The Valet” is written by Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher, who previously worked on Derbez’s “Overboard,” a remake of the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell comedy which took in $95 million worldwide. Derbez and his producing partner Ben Odell will produce “The Valet” through their 3Pas Studios banner.
“’The Valet’ is a multi-generational, multi-cultural comedy in which people from two different worlds discover the humanity in each other. At 3Pas Studios we tell stories that try to unite us all and we love partnering with Hulu and Disney Plus to bring this to the largest global audience possible,” said Derbez and Odell in a joint statement.
Hulu has moved more aggressively into the original film space as competition heats up in the streaming business from new entrants like Paramount Plus and HBO Max. Last year it released the Andy Samberg comedy “Palm Springs,” as well as “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” which earned an Oscar nomination for Andra Day.
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