Salma Hayek is CinemaCon’s Vanguard Award Winner

Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek attends the 2016 Global Citizen Festival In Central Park To End Extreme Poverty By 2030 (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Oscar nominee Salma Hayek (Frida) has been named the CinemaCon Vanguard Award winner and will be honored at the Big Screen Achievement Awards on March 30, 2017. Hayek will soon be seen in Pantelion Films’ How to Be a Latin Lover opposite Eugenio Derbez. She also has a starring role in Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard which is set to open in theaters on August 18, 2017.

“A commanding presence onscreen and off Hayek has proven herself to be one of the most prolific actresses of our time,” said CinemaCon Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser. “From her stunning turn as Frida in the film of the same name, to her hilarious roles in films such as Grown-Ups, Hayek has not only entertained audiences around the world with her vast array of roles but she has devoted herself to causes with a passion unlike no other. We could not be more honored to present Hayek with this year’s ‘CinemaCon Vanguard Award.’”

CinemaCon, the annual gathering of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is taking place March 27-30 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.


CinemaCon previously announced Goldie Hawn is the 2017 Icon Award winner, Charlie Hunnam will receive the Male Star of the Year award, and Brenton Thwaites is this year’s Breakthrough Performer. Chris Meledandri will receive the Producer of the Year award, Jessica Chastain has earned the 2017 Female Star of the Year award, and John Cena is this year’s Action Star award winner. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have been selected to receive the CinemaCon International Filmmakers of the Year award.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard Plot: Ryan Reynolds teams with Academy-Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson in this high-octane action comedy. The film follows the world’s top protection agent (Reynolds) whose new client happens to be a notorious hitman (Jackson). After years of being on opposite sides of a bullet, the bodyguard and the assassin are forced to spend 24 tense hours together traveling from England to The Hague. Besides their mutual contempt for one another, the only other thing standing in their way during their trek is a murderous Eastern European dictator, Academy Award® nominee Gary Oldman. Academy Award® nominee Hayek stars in the films as Jackson’s equally notorious wife.

Details on How to Be a Latin Lover: Eugenio Derbez stars as a very handsome and young Maximo who has a dream to be rich without ever having to work a day in his life. Having made a career of seducing rich older women, he marries a wealthy woman more than twice his age. 25 years later, he gets the surprise of his life when she ends up dumping him for a younger car salesman. Forced out of his mansion and desperate for a place to stay, he must move in with his estranged sister, Sara, (Hayek) and her son, Hugo. Anxious to return to the lap of luxury, Maximo uses his nephew’s crush on a classmate to get to his new target – her grandmother, Celeste, a widowed billionaire. As Maximo tries to rekindle his powers as a Latin lover, he finds himself bonding with his nephew and he begins to learn that being a Latin lover means that loving money isn’t as important as the love of your family.