Matthew López, the Tony-winning playwright hired to write a script for a remake of The Bodyguard, says the female lead will be played by a Latina.
“When Warner Bros. approached me about the idea, I quickly said I would but I wanted the protagonist to be Latina. They agreed to that,” he told Variety.
A reimagining of the 1992 romantic drama starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner has been in the works for about a decade but made headlines in mid-September when López’s involvement was announced.
The Bodyguard grossed over $411 million U.S. at the box office and spawned a Grammy-winning soundtrack album that featured Houston’s cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” produced by Canada’s David Foster.
Houston died in 2012 at 48.
“Instead of focusing on an established star like the one Whitney Houston played, this is about a young Latina performer who has just become famous,” explained López. “It’s about how her life has changed because she is an overnight sensation. In the 21st century, that means she’s in immediate need of protection.
“It was important to me to use this opportunity to get Latin faces up on that screen and to get their stories told in a big way.”