Selena

Selena is a 1997 American biographical musical drama crime film written and directed by Gregory Nava about the life and career of Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a recording artist well known in the Latino communities in the United States and Mexico before she was murdered on March 31, 1995 by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club, at the age of 23.

Plot
The true story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a Texas-born Tejano singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart topping albums on the Latin music charts.

Why It's Dreaming of You

 * 1) It tells us and follows the story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez very well.
 * 2) Catchy songs.
 * 3) The costumes are cool.
 * 4) The ending can make you cry.
 * 5) Memorable scenes.
 * 6) Great acting, especially from Jennifer Lopez.
 * 7) The performances are awesome.
 * 8) Anything for Selenas. is really hilarious.
 * 9) It spawned a two-part Netflix series that is also based on Selena's life and career.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some Historical inaccuracies, like the 1981 scenes (Selena's Brother A.B. and her sister Suzette are shown at 12 years old instead of 17 and 14 respectively).
 * 2) The full confrontation between Selena and Yolanda Saldivar on March 31st, 1995 is never shown.

Critical Response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 64% of critics gave the film a positive reviews, based on thirty-nine reviews. The film's critic consensus states that, "Selena occasionally struggles to tell its subject's story with depth or perspective, but those flaws are rendered largely irrelevant by Jennifer Lopez in the title role". Metacritic awarded the film a rating of 65 indicating "Generally favorable reviews".

Box Office
Following its August 1995 announcement, Selena was slated for an August 1996 release date. It was last pushed back to sometime at "the end of" 1996. Ultimately, it was released in America on March 21, 1997, after being pushed back several times. After its opening weekend, Selena grossed a total of $11,615,722 domestically, opening at #2 at the United States box office. In its second weekend, the film fell #3, grossing $6,138,838. The following weekend, it fell to No. 6, grossing $3,456,217. By April 20, 1997, Selena grossed a total of $32,002,285. Its total lifetime gross stands at $35,281,794. According to Box Office Mojo, Selena is the 13th highest-grossing musical biopic of all time.

Videos
>EVMSuZXEz4s >6djW7Yr-WcE

Trivia

 * That Selena’s family chose to make the movie as a pre-emptive strike since other unauthorized films about her life were already in production? Many Latino filmmakers, including Luis Valdez (La Bamba) and Edward James Olmos (American Me), were considered to direct, but it was Selena’s family that chose Gregory Nava.
 * Writer/Director Gregory Nava had to fight the studio to win Jennifer Lopez the role. Warner Bros. was originally considering non-Latina actresses for the part.
 * By accepting the role in the film, Jennifer Lopez became the highest paid Latina actress in Hollywood at the time.
 * News media and fans were critical of choosing Jennifer Lopez to play Selena, as she is a Puerto Rican from New York and was portraying a Mexican-American from Texas and many fans demanded for there to be a recast.
 * Jennifer Lopez lived with Selena Quintanilla-Perez's family (particaularly her sister Suzette Quintanilla) in order to play the title role.
 * The famous concert scene where Selena sings at the Houston Astrodome was actually shot at the Alamodome in San Antonio in front of 30,000 fans. Speaking about the experience of performing on stage, Jennifer Lopez has said, “It was an incredible rush. I felt a lot of love from the crowd…I was a little overwhelmed.”
 * Selena’s singing voice was used throughout to honor her and for her fans. Jennifer Lopez only sang three words in the entire film, “Como La Flor.”
 * Jennifer Lopez and Constance Marie play mother and daughter in this movie. However, they are only four years apart in real life.
 * The real Abraham Quintanilla Jr. (Selena's father (who's also the executive producer)) wanted the scene where Selena and Chris getting married out of the film so that Selena's younger fans won't get the wrong idea about marriage and was convinced by the film's director Gregory Nava.
 * Several members of Selena’s band, including singer/songwriter Pete Astudillo, writer Rick Vela and keyboard player Art Meza played themselves in the movie.
 * Writer/director Gregory Nava made the conscious choice not to depict Selena’s murder and instead use the cinematic device of a radio announcer? Nava said, “I didn’t want the movie to be about Yolanda. I wanted it to be about Selena.”
 * Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Suzette Quintanilla stated in an interview on Entertainment Tonight that the scene where Marcella teaches Selena how to use the washing machine didn't actually happen, but it is true that she and her family would all sit on the beach by the ocean together.
 * An audition was held for 20,000 girls to play the various roles of Selena at various ages.
 * Jackie Guerra asked to play the part of Selena's sister, Suzette and she wanted to play the part and went so far that she lied at her audition and claimed that she was an experienced drummer, when in reality she didn't play the drums. When it was revealed that she was inexperienced, Suzette the sister of Selena gave her private lessons.
 * Rob Reiner was attached to direct, but his attachment to direct was cancelled after one of his previous films, North flopped at the box office and was hated by both the critics (mostly hated by the late Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert) and audiences.
 * Almost the entire cast starred together in the film My Family.