Avengers: Endgame star Zoe Saldana’s new movie is dominating Netflix today. The streaming giant kickstarted a lucrative new partnership earlier this year when they exclusively released Sony’s Mitchells vs. The Machines, which became a huge hit for the platform. And that success has now been followed by another. Vivo – Sony’s latest animated offering – debuted on Netflix on July 30th and it’s still ranking high in the charts. As of this weekend, it’s the fourth most-watched film around the globe.
Hot on the heels of Warner Bros.’s In The Heights, Vivo is yet another original musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda – the first animated musical from Sony Animation, in fact. A colorful adventure with Pixar levels of emotion, Vivo stars Miranda stars in the title role as a kinkajou (also known as a honey bear) who’s part of a popular musical act with his owner Andre (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez). But when tragedy strikes, Vivo travels from his home in Havana, Cuba to Miami in order to deliver a long-lost letter, with the help of kooky tween Gabi (Ynairaly Simo).
Salanda features as Rosa, Gabi’s mother. The great cast also includes two more Marvel actors – namely, Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy) as a villainous anaconda and Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals) as a loved-up spoonbill bird. The Croods‘ Kirk De Micco directs. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with Vivo sitting at an 88% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. “Vivo offers few surprises,” writes the critics consensus,” but this attractively animated adventure is enlivened by the catchy songs.”
Saldana hasn’t been seen much on our screens since Endgame came out in 2019, but she’s actually been working non-stop on a variety of major upcoming projects. She’ll be appearing alongside Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo in The Adam Project, she’s part of David O. Russell’s next movie starring Margot Robbie and Christian Bale and she’s back for Avatar 2, as well as the other 25 sequels James Cameron is planning. Saldana is also due to return to the MCU for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Catch Vivo on Netflix now.