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When Cuban actor Héctor Medina read the script for Los Frikis, he immediately knew he wanted the leading role of Paco. Initially contacted as a sort of consultant for the film, Medina was familiar with the story about a group of punk rockers in early ’90s Cuba who, in search of freedom, deliberately injected themselves with HIV to live in a government-administered rural treatment retreat and create their own utopia.
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“I was born in 1989. It was the year the socialist wall fell and in 1990, what is called in modern Cuban history the Special Period, began, which is a deep energetic, economic food crisis,” explains the actor in an interview with Billboard Español. Additionally, it was forbidden to listen to rock and roll and having long hair could get you arrested, he adds. “So, the Frikis were very marginalized. It’s a story that even in Cuba is very little known.”
Written and directed by American filmmakers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, Los Frikis, an independent film inspired by true events, arrives this week in theaters in the United States after making the rounds in the festival circuit, where it has received a variety of awards.
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Medina, who left the island about eight years ago and lives in Miami with his wife and two children, not only ended up landing his dream role, but also a credit as a co-producer thanks to his contributions to the film, which was shot in the Dominican Republic (as it could not be done in Cuba).
The movie also stars Eros de la Puente as Gustavo, Paco’s younger brother; and Adria Arjona (daughter of Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona) as María, the sweet caretaker at the retreat. The cast also includes Luis Alberto García and Jorge Perugorría, among others.
Produced by Academy Award winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Los Frikis received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for language, sexual content, some graphic nudity and drug use. It premieres on Friday, Dec. 20 in New York and Los Angeles, and on Dec. 25 in markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami.
Below, Medina details his rigorous physical and emotional transformation process to bring Paco to life, the role music plays in the film and the reception this work has had so far.
Los Frikis
Courtesy of Wayward/Range
How did this project come to you?
The project came to me through producer Rebecca Karch Tomlinson, who contacted me to ask some questions about the dialogues and some events that happen in the script. It was more or less something like a review. Of course, I read the script and I [was] totally impressed by how two Americans have written a script about Cuba, such a believable story about my country, and how they want[ed] to do it — and also want to do it with Cubans. And of course, I also fell in love with the story and my character, Paco. From there, I said: “I want to be here, and I want to be Paco.”
Did you have to audition for the role?
Well, yes. They told me, “If you want to be Paco, you have to fight like everyone else and do the casting.” I remember that I did the last scene in the movie, and as soon as they saw the scene, they called me and said, “Are you ready? You’re going to be Paco.” From there began a very tough process of character construction and transformation that was truly a most beautiful experience, because Michael and Taylor have a very particular and very strong method of working with the actors and creating this atmosphere, and get to the point that you are not trying to play the character, but you are the character. And that allows you, once you are on set, to feel confident, to be able to improvise, because they also give you that freedom. It is a very substantial work process; there are many scenes in the film that were not in the script.
You completely disappear into the role, to the point that at the beginning of the film I was looking for you, I didn’t recognize you. How was your transformation, physically and emotionally, into this character? I know you lost weight, you have the mohawk, you lose a tooth in a scene…
It was a very intense, rigorous process. From the first day I had to give up everything gluten and sugar; I only had seltzer water as a reward and one meal a day, which was a little bit of chicken and a little bit of spinach. It included heavy training, running and walking more than four or five miles a day. Then came the process of learning to play music. Mike and Taylor are so specific that they knew every detail. For example, at that time in Cuba there were no American electric guitars, there were only Japanese guitars, Russian amplifiers, Russian basses, and the drums were made with what was found, sometimes even drawers, and they had those specific types of instruments sent to us so we [could] learn how to play them. We got to a point where we even started playing our own music and putting lyrics to it and giving concerts, like in the movie.
Music plays a fundamental role in this story, with Paco as the guitarist in his rock band. Did you play before or did you have to learn for the film?
I played acoustic guitar, but I remembered like two or three chords that they taught me in my neighborhood, back in Cuba, when I was a child, so I didn’t remember very well. In other words, working with the guitar was the most difficult for me, because on top of that, I have no musical ear, I admit. What I do have is a rock and roller spirit and being bold. And also this thing [where] I don’t like to give up, I like obstacles and I like to transform and work hard. I like a challenge.
Did you know about the real Frikis story before getting involved in this project?
Yes, I knew vaguely. I was born in 1989. It was the year the socialist wall fell and in 1990, what is called in modern Cuban history the Special Period, began, which is a deep energetic, economic food crisis. There were shortages of all types of products. In addition, there were also prohibitions: listening to rock and roll music was frowned upon, and for having long hair you could be imprisoned. So, the Frikis were very marginalized. It’s a story that even in Cuba is very little known.
I had an uncle who was a rock and roll lover, and when I was a teenager he took me to a place called Pista Rita, where they played exclusively rock and roll. Going to those places with him at 13, 14 years old, I was able to see Nelson, who was like an urban legend that we had in that town, of course with the spiked mohawk, black boots, tattoos — a very transgressive image. And yet, when I got to know him well, I remember that he handed me a cigarette and he had a great sense of protection with all the boys there. In other words, he greatly encouraged that family spirit, not a gang spirit, but music and family spirit. There was nothing illicit or illegal. It was a feeling that united us with a passion for music, for rock and roll.
From what you say, he sounds a lot like Paco, doesn’t he?
Yes. Paco’s character is not specifically based on a real character, but on several, like all the characters in the film. Paco has a lot of Papo La Bala, one of the leaders and singers of the punk rock band Eskoria in Cuba, who has since died; and he has a lot of that from my personal side, having known him [Papo La Bala].
What made you say “this role has to be mine” when you read the script?
First, the transformation I had to undergo. Second, that he was a difficult character and had a lot of energy; I wanted to do something like that, different. And also, perhaps most importantly, that as a Cuban artist I wanted to say many things that Paco also says — and feels. Feeling that almost kamikaze spirit of freedom above all else, I wanted to share that. I think that was what drove me the most.
You’re not only the leading actor, you are also credited as co-producer. What was your role in that regard?
I think what I did the most was contribute. I mean, I wanted this movie to happen so badly, I wanted this dream to come true so much, that without realizing it I began to contribute to the casting, to writing the lyrics of the songs, changing them and a little bit [of] the scenes. I got involved a lot. In fact, I even designed the logo that appears at the beginning, the Lord Miller logo. I have done so many things. And I feel so grateful and so good that I have always done that. Every time I go into a project I give my all, but the truth is that it is the first time that they have recognized me not only for doing my job as an actor. I think it says a lot about the producers and directors of this film. I am very grateful to them.
Now that Los Frikis will reach a wider audience after its festival run, what do you hope people take away from it?
I really don’t expect anything. I have a very nice feeling about this film through the different screenings we have been to. It is a tremendous delight to turn around and see people’s faces. I believe that it is not an educational film or one that has a specific verbal message for people, but rather a management of a bundle of emotions, a journey of various emotions that in the end stirs your soul and leaves you thinking and perhaps doing what I call the movie after the movie. I think that is the greatest achievement of this film. More important than a verbal message, is that of an emotion, and it shows.
Héctor Medina
Carlos Eric Lopez
Snoop Dogg is headed into space for a starring role in an upcoming sci-fi movie from director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element). The rapper will not only top-line The Last Man, but according to Variety, he will also co-produce the post-apocalyptic tale whose plot is being kept quiet for now.
The magazine reported that The Last Man is believed to be inspired by Planet of the Apes and have a connection to Snoop’s 2009 track “Last Man Standing.” Besson’s eclectic, four-decade-plus filmography has included a number of science fiction films, among them 1997’s The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, the trippy Lucy with Scarlett Johansson in 2014 and the big-budget Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in 2017, which featured Clive Owen, Cara Delevingne, Rihanna and Ethan Hawke.
Besson is also writing the script for the upcoming film, which Variety speculated would be in the same wheelhouse as The Fifth Element, mixing sci-fi with comedy and action. The project will be a reunion for the director and rapper, who worked together in 2006 on the live action/animated fantasy movie Arthur and the Invisibles, in which The Voice coach starred as Koolamassai leader Max alongside an all-star cast that also included Madonna, Robert DeNiro, David Bowie, Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow and Chazz Palminteri.
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“Ever since I’ve seen The Professional, I’ve always wanted [Luc] to direct a whole movie for me. Now we finally get the opportunity for him to write and direct me in a Luc Besson movie,” Snoop said.
Besson returned the admiration, adding, “I’ve been a big fan of Snoop Dogg’s music ever since ‘Who Am I.’ We first met 20 years ago, and we’ve always wanted to work together again. We just needed the right project that would excite us both — and this is it, with Snoop in the lead role. I can’t wait to get started!”
Snoop’s Death Row Pictures is co-producing the movie along with Besson and wife Virginie Besson-Silla for EuropaCorp, with filming slated to begin next year.
The rapper’s acting resume is nearly as long as his rapping sheet, dating back to early appearances in Half Baked and Caught Up in the mid-1990s, as well as co-starring roles in a variety of dramas, comedies and genre films, including Baby Boy, Training Day, Bones, The Wash, Starsky & Hutch and Dolemite Is My Name, among many others.
In the meantime, Snoop is gearing up to release his Missionary album on Friday (Dec. 13), which represents his first full-length LP made in collaboration with mentor Dr. Dre since Snoop’s 1993 debut, Doggystyle.
The first time Annie Gonzalez was invited to audition for the role of Jenni Rivera in the upcoming biopic JENNI, the actress passed on it. It was right after Flamin’ Hot came out, she was burned out from the promotion of that movie, and — she can now admit — she was nervous to play the late Mexican-American superstar. Even one week later, when she got a text from a member of the casting team asking if there was a reason she wouldn’t try for it, she couldn’t come immediately to her senses.
“I opened the message and I closed it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m not going to respond,’” Gonzalez tells Billboard Español. “I think for me, being sixth-generation [Mexican-American], and Jenni being so prominent, am I going to be able to do it justice? I respect her as a woman, I respect her as an artist, and I respect and honor those who have passed. I would never want to just take something because I’m selfish. I never look at work like that.”
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She instead went to Mexico on vacation, where she was having a good time speaking Spanish and enjoying the local music and culture — when she started having second thoughts. “I think I might want to do it,” she told a friend. “Two days later, I get a call from my manager, and she’s like, ‘Producers really want to see you for the role.’ I go like, ‘OK, I fly back tomorrow. Give me a day.’”
The moment Gonzalez did her audition tape, she had a strong feeling she was booking the role. “But it was a journey,” she explains. “I did multiple producer sessions and director sessions. I even got to meet with [director] Gigi [Saul Guerrero] and that, for me, was the real selling point.”
The final step was meeting Jenni Rivera’s children for their final approval. She recalls them being cautiously doubtful at first, but she won them over a 30 minute call. “So I met with them on Zoom in my makeup, and I did my read with them,” Gonzalez, who is also a phenomenal singer and performs all the songs on the movie, recalls. “I sang for them, and they were like, ‘OK’.” The role was officially hers.
JENNI will premiere on ViX and select theaters in the U.S. and Mexico on December 6. It follows Rivera from her humble beginnings in her hometown of Long Beach, California, to her rise to fame and the last days before her tragic and unexpected death. Known as “La Diva de la Banda,” she was the single most successful woman in regional Mexican music and on the Billboard Latin charts when she tragically died in a plane crash in 2012 at the age of 43.
Annie Gonzalez as Jenni Rivera in JENNI
Courtesy of ViX
A trailer of the movie shows Gonzalez — who is also credited as executive producer — performing Rivera’s early song “La Chacalosa” at a night club. “My life ain’t no fairy tale,” she’s heard saying while the song continues in the background and a collage of scenes shows Jenni’s struggles with teenage pregnancy, domestic violence and stumbles with the law, but also her ascend to stardom and role as the proud mother of five.
Rivera’s life is something the actress could identify with. “I’m from East L.A. hood; she’s from Long Beach hood. My dad’s a musician; [her dad was a musician too],” she says, adding: “I myself am a survivor of sexual assault. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence. I myself am a f–king warrior, and […] yes, this is the story I want to tell. This complex, beautiful, kind woman who found her power on the stage.”
On her first in-depth interview about JENNI, Gonzalez also spoke with Billboard Español about how this movie changed her, her own plans in music and her expectations for the film.
What did you know about Jenni Rivera before? What do you remember the most?
What I remember the most about her was like her fuerza, her fire, her fight. How people loved and fought for her. And Jenni made music for the malandrinas, for the women that were like, “I don’t give a f–k.” But more than that, I think she made music for people with grit, who have been through things, who didn’t feel like they had a space to cry out. That even though the world tried to beat them down, they were going to get up time and time again, that that was not the thing that was going to define them. That’s what I knew about Jenni and that’s what excited me to this beast of a role.
How did you get ready for it?
I didn’t know too much about her personal story until I read her book, and then I watched [Telemundo’s series on Rivera’s life] Mariposa de Barrio, and [her reality show] I Love Jenni and interviews. I did a lot of research. The little that I knew about her was just that that she had this fight that I could identify with: I’m from East L.A. hood; she’s from Long Beach hood. My dad’s a musician [and her dad was a musician too].
I saw myself in her once I learned her story. But I could never emulate this specific energy that this woman was like — We can never. We can try, right? But I’m not going to become her. What I can do is tell her story from a rooted place because I’ve been through it. I myself am a survivor of sexual assault. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence. I myself am a f–king warrior, and I love that when I saw it, I was like, “Yes, this is the story I want to tell. This complex, beautiful, kind woman who found her power on the stage because she couldn’t get it at home.”
How was it for you, as a rape and domestic violence survivor, to go through those difficult scenes?
You know, I think I had about six months leading up to actually shooting the role. And when I went through the script and saw — you know, my whole body was like, creeping and crawling, because there were things that I hadn’t yet wanted to look at in my own life. And I realized that, by avoiding it, there were blockages in me as a woman, just as Annie. And if there’s blockages in me as a woman, there’s going to be blockages in my work. And if there’s blockages in my work, then there’s blockages in my life. How we do anything is how we do everything.
I worked with a therapist very closely towards leading up to it, and then during and after. But I think seeing how she maneuvered through it, and how she used it as a superpower more than something that was going to block her — she created a whole organization to help women. She understood the reason that she has this visibility is for something bigger than herself, even if she didn’t know how to do it.
They say the highest form of love is service. That’s what she did, and she did it at a time when it wasn’t popular. So when I saw that, I was like, all right, I think there’s something here for me to help people that I love. So many women in my family, and even young boys, have been affected by it, by sexual assault.
Is this your first time opening up about these issues?
This is my first time talking about it publicly. Because you do, you can get a lot of backlash, and you know, like, Jenni was a coqueta, she liked to dress the way she dressed, and a lot of the time it’s “Well, why did you dress like that?” It’s like, “No, I was nine years old when it happened. Sorry. No.”
What did you learn about yourself through this movie?
I never felt like my body was my own. I cannot tell you how many relationships or things I said yes to that I didn’t know I could say no to until I got to portray Jenni on screen. Like she helped heal parts of me that I never wanted to look at, that I didn’t even know were there, that now I hold that version of myself so tightly, and I’m so f–king proud of her, and I pray that anybody who watches this gets set free just a little bit more.
You sing on the film as well, and you do it beautifully. Any plans to start a career in music after this?
Yeah, I’ve sang my whole life, but I’ve always been so terrified to do music, because I’ve always felt like if you don’t like my work as an actress that’s okay, you don’t like the character. But if you don’t like my music, you don’t like me. That’s my poetry, that’s my heart. That’s everything that lives inside of me. But as I’m getting older — and honestly, I swear, JENNI transformed me — I live by this quote by George Bernard Shaw, which is essentially like: “I want to burn the candle at both ends when I go.”
You know, when I’m here I have a splendid torch that I get to hold on just for a moment until I can pass it on to the next generation. I’m not going to waste it on being fearful, crying that the world is not going to submit to me or bend at my will. I’m going to fight and have fun doing it. So yes, all that to say, I’m working on an EP.
Can you give us some details? Are you gonna be singing in Spanish? English?
Both. You know, I have a corrido that I’m working on, that my dad wrote that I’m I’m really excited to come out with; I believe it’s gonna come out at the top of December. But right now I’m having fun with figuring out what my sound will be. It’s funny, you know, at this point it’s like I’m already in the public eye, might as well do it with. We’ll all help me figure it out. The energy of the universe will help me.
Do you have a favorite Jenni Rivera song?
Oh, I love “No Llega El Olvido”! “Ovarios” is such a good song, too. God! I love that song. I love how it’s like you just feel like you’re in the club or in the bar with your with your amigas just drinking.
What does your father say about you playing Jenni?
Oh, my God, he’s like he gets, he gets so giddy! He’s like, “Babe, you’re doing it! This is gonna make you huge. You’re gonna be a big star.” And I’m like, “I don’t know. I’m just having fun.” If I can pay my bills and I can go on vacation when I want, that’s the freedom I love. And just keep making more movies, more music, you know.
What do you expect the audience to get from from JENNI the movie?
I have no expectation. I think what I’ve learned as an artist is: My job is to make the food, and however you decide to eat it, digest it, or what you decide to do with it, I can’t force you to do anything that you don’t already feel inspired to want to do with it. My job is to make you feel now how you feel. Thereafter, I can’t control. You might watch it and feel inspired and healed. You might watch it and hate it. You might watch it and love it. You might watch and say, “Huh! I didn’t know that about her.” I just want people to go watch it.
I think it’s an important film because we don’t really get many stories like this with faces like ours, with latino faces, latino women leading films — even behind the camera. The DP (director of photography) was a woman. The director was a woman. I got an opportunity to executive produce on the project. And we’re talking about domestic violence and sexual violence in a way that’s not making the protagonist the victim but instead the hero of her own story — and showing what fame can do in a positive light, and what it can do sometimes at the detriment to ourselves if we don’t have a solid foundation. So I just hope that this brings people in a space together to have more conversations. I hope that this starts a conversation.
JENNI, the new ViX original film inspired in the life of the late superstar Jenni Rivera, will premiere on ViX and select theaters in the U.S. and Mexico on December 6, the Spanish-language streaming service announced today (Nov. 13) in a press release including the first trailer of the film.
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Starring Annie Gonzalez (Flamin’ Hot, Gentefied) as the iconic Mexican-American banda singer, the movie follows Rivera from her humble beginnings in her hometown of Long Beach, California, to her rise as one of the most famous female regional Mexican artists, and the last days before her tragic and unexpected death.
“JENNI also shows the struggles that she endured in her personal life and how she became the artist fans all know and love today, and how she persevered and found strength from within,” adds the press release. “This story of resilience and bravery shows the building blocks of what made Jenni Rivera who she was and the remarkable legacy she left behind.”
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The trailer starts with Gonzalez — who also sings and is credited as executive producer — performing Rivera’s early song “La Chacalosa” at a night club. “My life ain’t no fairy tale,” she’s heard saying while the song continues in the background and a collage of scenes shows Jenni’s struggles with teenage pregnancy, domestic violence and stumbles with the law, but also her ascend to stardom and role as the proud mother of five.
Rivera paved the way for women in Música Mexicana, a genre that to this day is dominated by male artists. Her anthemic songs, including “La Gran Señora” and “Inolvidable,” offered empowering lyrics and became a source of inspiration for women everywhere.
Known as “La Diva de la Banda,” she was the single most successful woman in regional Mexican music and on the Billboard Latin charts when she tragically died in a plane crash in 2012 at the age of 43. Among other achievements, she entered more than 30 songs on Regional Mexican Airplay, including 15 top 10s and her No. 1 hit “De Contrabando.” On Hot Latin Songs chart, she placed a total of 25 songs. La Misma Gran Señora gave her her third No. 1 on Top Latin Albums in December 2012, ruling for eight weeks and becoming her longest charting title, remaining on the tally for 73 weeks.
JENNI‘s cast includes Manuel Uriza as Pedro Rivera, Jenni’s father and Regional Mexican entrepreneur; Cinthya Carmona as her oldest daughter, singer Chiquis Rivera; and Jero Medina and Miguel Angel Garcia as Trino Marín, Jenni’s first husband and father of her three oldest children, at different stages in his life. Gabriela Reynoso plays Jenni’s mother, Rosa Saavedra; J.R. Villarreal plays Juan “Cinco” Lopez, Jenni’s late second husband; and newcomer Tatiana Alicia Beltrán portrays the young Jenni Rivera.
JENNI was produced by Javier Chapa and Phillip Braun of Mucho Mas Media and Alec Meachem from De Line Pictures, under the direction of Gigi Saul Guerrero with a screenplay by Shane McKenzie and Kate Lanier.
Watch JENNI‘s official first trailer below:
Pharrell Williams dropped the video for the title track to his animated biopic, Piece By Piece, on Thursday morning (Oct. 24). And like the Morgan Neville-directed film that’s in theaters now, the brightly colored, high-energy visual directed by Neville renders the singer/producer/rapper/fashionista in LEGO blocks, borrowing some scenes from the unique, blocky big screen trip […]
Bad Bunny is on to his next movie adventure, joining Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2 — the sequel to the cult-classic sports comedy film released in 1996 — The Hollywood Reporter revealed Tuesday (Sept. 10). There are no details yet about Bad Bunny’s role. The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio made his acting […]
Not every actor who steps into the well-worn jeans of a global rock icon has quite so much footage to review when prepping for a role. Luckily for The Bear star Jeremy Allen White, Bruce Springsteen has been playing three hour-plus shows for more than 50 years, so the tape library is voluminous. Which explains […]
Brandy is set to star opposite Kathryn Hunter in A24’s psychological horror-thriller The Front Room. The film — directed by Max and Sam Eggers (brothers of director Robert Eggers) — is based on Susan Hill’s 2016 short story of the same name. The plot centers on a pregnant young couple who have to take in […]
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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has become a top-grossing film in the legendary monsterverse with $570 million in global box office, according to Deadline. If you’re into action and science-fiction movies, you might want to add this one to your list. You can pre-order it now on Blu-ray from Amazon and Walmart, with availability starting on June 11.
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Godzilla x Kong serves as a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. It was directed by Adam Wingard, bringing two legendary titans together to face an enormous threat deep within the Earth, risking their existence and humanity’s survival.
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Keep reading for details on how to watch and stream from anywhere.
Where to Watch and Stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Online
Available on VOD as of May 14, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire can be streamed on Apple TV+, Prime Video, Roku and Fandango at Home.
You can pre-order Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K from Amazon.
If you’re shopping on Amazon, consider taking advantage of all Amazon Prime has to offer and sign up for a 30-day free trial, which also comes with access to Prime Video, Prime Gaming and Amazon Music. And to help make sure you get your purchases quickly, being a Prime member means you get fast, free shipping in two days or less with Prime Delivery.
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For those looking for another alternative, you can also pre-order a Blu-ray and digital copy of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at Walmart. Want free shipping on Walmart items? Join Walmart+ for free for the first 30 days. The membership includes free shipping and free delivery from your local store, free Paramount+ and so much more!
If you’re a current Apple TV+ member, you can stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at home for free when you log into your account.
Apple TV+ is free for the first seven days and just $9.99/month after your free trial. Want to extend your trial? Apple customers can get three months free with an eligible purchase, or a one-month free trial by signing up for Apple One, bundling Apple TV+ with up to five other services.