Lionsgate has set Killing Castro for a theatrical release on December 11, 2026, with a digital release on December 18, according to the distributor’s press materials. The political thriller, directed by Eif Rivera, reimagines Fidel Castro’s September 1960 trip to New York. According to the synopsis, U.S. agencies and the mafia close in on him before a United Nations speech. The film premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June.
The 1960 Visit Behind the Story
In September 1960, Castro led a delegation to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. History.com reports that he caused a sensation by choosing to stay at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where he met with Malcolm X and other African American leaders.
Smithsonian Magazine describes how Castro left his plush Midtown hotel after a dispute over money and moved to the Hotel Theresa, which it calls the ‘Waldorf of Harlem.’
History Today notes that the visit came only seven months before the Bay of Pigs invasion. The Literary Review, reviewing historian Simon Hall’s Ten Days in Harlem, adds that the trip angered the Eisenhower administration, which had already begun planning that invasion.
Documented Plots Behind the Premise
The film’s premise of U.S. plots against Castro has a documented basis. The Assassination Archives and Research Center says the Church Committee, a 1975 Senate investigation, found that the United States initiated plots to assassinate him. The National Security Archive says the plans included toxic cigars and exploding seashells.
The Story and Cast
According to the distributor’s synopsis, Castro moves into the Hotel Theresa at Malcolm X’s invitation. A CIA operative, a young translator and a hotel worker then get drawn into a covert plot against him. Tribeca’s festival listing casts Pacino as an agent running a secret scheme to remove Castro.
Diego Boneta plays Castro, Al Pacino plays the CIA operative, Xolo Maridueña plays the translator, KiKi Layne plays the hotel worker and Kendrick Sampson plays Malcolm X, per the distributor. A December 2023 casting report named several other actors, including Alexander Ludwig, Ron Livingston, Nicole Beharie, Logan Marshall-Green and Titus Welliver.
Behind the Camera
Eif Rivera directs, and Killing Castro is his feature debut. He is a Puerto Rican filmmaker known for music videos, including Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘B.I.T.C.H.’ His TV credits include Black Mafia Family and Power Book III: Raising Kanan.
The screenplay credit goes to Thomas V. DeGrezia and Leon Hendrix III. The distributor’s materials also credit Colin Bateman with a screenplay on which the film is based.
Cubanet reports that producer Brad Feinstein finances the film through Romulus Entertainment, in collaboration with Christina Weiss Lurie of Fourth & Twenty-Eight Films.
Lionsgate’s poster and press materials place Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and DJ Khaled above the title. Hola reports the film was shot primarily in Newark, New Jersey.
Early Reviews
Two reviews from Tribeca stressed the film’s entertainment value. ScreenAnarchy called it a neat thriller, while Frank J. Avella of The Contending wrote that much of the film is ‘dizzyingly entertaining conjecture.’
Diego Boneta told Bustle that playing Castro has been the hardest role of his career. ‘There’s never really been a movie about Fidel Castro,’ he said.
Release and Rating
Lionsgate’s materials list a December 11, 2026 theatrical release and a December 18 digital release for VOD and EST. The film is rated R for violence, language and some sexual references, according to an AgeRatingJuju summary of the MPA rating bulletin, and the poster carries the same wording.
IOM has not seen the film. The synopsis, cast list, release dates and trailer link come from Lionsgate’s press materials. Poster courtesy of Lionsgate. The historical background comes from the sources named in the text.
