Salma Hayek latest news finds the Mexican star at one of the busiest and boldest points of her career. At 60, an age when many actors slow down, Hayek is directing her first feature film, promoting a new drama, and returning to a hit comedy franchise, all at the same time.
Here is what is confirmed about her latest projects and what to expect next.
Directing Her First Feature Film: Arena
The biggest news around Hayek is Arena, the film she is directing, co-writing and starring in. It is her feature-film directorial debut, a major step for an actress whose career has already spanned acting and producing.
Arena is described as a forbidden love story and an epic romantic adventure, exploring desire, emotional discovery and the pleasure found in life’s simplest experiences. The cast includes Cara Delevingne and Yura Borisov, the Oscar-nominated actor known for Anora. Angelina Jolie is supporting the production as an executive producer.
News of the project emerged in September 2026, when Variety reported that filming was taking place in Mexico, in the states of Quintana Roo and Veracruz. The film is independently financed, and no release date has been announced yet. Much of the plot is still being kept under wraps.
Hayek has directed before, and her earlier directing work includes the television film The Maldonado Miracle, but Arena is her first time directing a feature for cinemas, and it puts her in charge of the whole production.
Without Blood Reaches Cinemas
Hayek’s most recent film as an actress is Without Blood, written and directed by Angelina Jolie. The film arrived in cinemas in the United States on 18 September 2026, after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.
Based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel, the film stars Hayek as Nina, a woman who spends her adult life pursuing the men responsible for killing her father and brother during wartime when she was a child. Demián Bichir plays Tito, with Juan Minujín also in the cast. Much of the film plays out as a long conversation between Nina and Tito, with flashbacks revealing their pasts.
Hayek has said she almost turned the role down, telling Jolie at first that she did not want to play Nina. She changed her mind, and the film became another intense collaboration between the two stars, who previously worked together on Marvel’s Eternals.
Critics have been divided: the film holds a 36% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews. Whatever the reviews say, it is a serious, grown-up drama, the kind of project Hayek has increasingly chosen in recent years.
Back for Grown Ups 3
On a lighter note, Hayek is returning as Roxanne Chase-Feder in Grown Ups 3, the third instalment of Adam Sandler’s hit comedy franchise. Netflix confirmed the returning ensemble cast in August 2026, and Hayek was spotted filming scenes in Sardinia in October, with the cast reportedly enjoying themselves behind the scenes as much as their characters do on screen.
The return shows the two sides of Hayek’s career: prestige dramas on one hand, and broad popular comedies on the other. She has always moved easily between the two.
A Career That Keeps Reinventing Itself
Born in Mexico, Hayek broke through in Hollywood in the 1990s with films such as Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, before earning an Academy Award nomination for playing the artist Frida Kahlo in Frida (2002), a film she also produced.
Since then she has built a career as an actress and producer, taking roles in blockbusters such as Eternals and in smaller, character-driven films, while championing stories that challenge Hollywood’s usual expectations.
Turning 60 in September 2026 has not slowed her down. If anything, this year looks like a new chapter: stepping behind the camera, leading a demanding drama, and returning to a franchise audiences still love.
What’s Next for Salma Hayek
The immediate focus is Arena. With filming under way in Mexico, the next milestones to watch for are the completion of production, a first trailer, and news of a distributor and release date. None of those has been confirmed yet.
Fans can also expect more from Grown Ups 3 as filming continues, and from Without Blood as it reaches more audiences. For a star who has spent three decades surprising people, the most interesting part of the latest news may be that the biggest role of her career could be the one behind the camera.
For more celebrity news, visit the Celebrity Hub homepage.