Kiss of the Spider Woman musical film with Jennifer Lopez releases trailer

A long-awaited trailer for the film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman has been revealed.

It centres on an Argentinian jail in 1981, where a gay hairdresser named Luis Molina is serving an eight-year sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. He forms an unlikely bond with his cellmate – a Marxist named Valentin Arregui Paz – and creates fantasies in his own mind about a classic silver screen siren named Aurora to escape the horrors of prison.

First seen as a West End stage musical in 1992, it has a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) and features such standards as “Dressing Them Up”, “She’s a Woman” and the titular number.

It has been a big day for theatrical trailer releases, with Wicked: For Good also landing!

The Kiss of the Spider Woman movie is written and directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), based on the book by Terrence McNally (which was in turn adapted from the novel by Manuel Puig).

As already confirmed, Jennifer Lopez stars as Aurora in the flick, while joining her are Diego Luna (Andor), playing Valentin Arregui, and Tonatiuh (Carry On) as Luis Molina. Also in the cast are Bruno Bichir, Josefina Scaglione and Aline Mayagoitia.

Its world premiere took place at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. A theatrical release date has been planned for 10 October 2025.

Following workshops and initial productions at the State University of New York and in Toronto from 1990, the musical moved to Broadway in 1993, a year after its run at the Shaftesbury Theatre. It went on to win a total of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Condon’s previous film credits include the likes of Chicago (2002), Dreamgirls (2006), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and The Greatest Showman (2017), while Lopez has starred in such movies as Selena (1997), Maid in Manhattan (2002) and Hustlers (2019).

Kiss of the Spider Woman is produced by Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy, Greg Yolen and Matt Geller, with Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina serving as executive producers on behalf of Nuyorican Productions.

Puig’s novel was previously adapted into a 1985 feature film, which saw William Hurt win an Oscar for his portrayal of Molina.

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