Mario Lopez to Revive Menudo With New Singing Competition Series

Universal Television series will seek new members for the popular 1970s boy band

Menudo
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Menudo is back. At least, it will be once a new competition series from Mario Lopez finds a new crop of members.

Universal Television announced Wednesday that Lopez is executive producing a new singing competition series currently in the works at the studio which will seek out new members for the popular Latin boy band of the 1970s and ’80s.

“I grew up as a huge fan of Menudo and I’m thrilled to be a part of bringing this iconic band back to the world,” Lopez said in a statement.

The hourlong, weekly competition series will “search for and rebuild one of the most iconic boy bands of all time,” according to the studio. There is currently no network attached to the project. Lopez will executive produce via his Vir Mar Productions banner, alongside Audrey Morrissey and Jayson Belt of Live Animals,  Mark Schulman of 3 Arts Entertainment and Patrick Hughes, Paul Vasquez and Harvey Russell of Foundation Management.

Best known in the U.S. for launching the career of Ricky Martin, Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band active from 1977 through the 1990s. Famous for its rotating line-up of members, the band released a total of 35 albums that sold more than 60 million copies. A version of the group briefly reformed in 2007 as part of the MTV series “Making Menudo,” though the group again disbanded two years later.

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