Adria Arjona to Star in & Executive Produce the Drama “Los Frikis”

Adria Arjona is getting Friki

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star and executive produce the drama Los Frikis

Adria Arjona

Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz will be writing and directing the film.

The film is based on the true story of punk-rock teenagers in Havana who deliberately inject themselves with HIV to escape the oppression of “Special Period” Cuba.

Arjona has a busy year ahead, which includes a leading role in the Star Wars series Andor starring Diego Luna.

She can be seen next in Sony’s Morbius opposite Jared Leto and Matt Smith.

She is also set to play the bride in Warner Bros.’ new Father of the Bride film starring Andy Garcia.

Isabela Merced to Portray Juliet in “Rosaline,” 20th Century Fox’s Revisionist Take on “Romeo & Juliet”

Wherefore art thou Isabela Merced?

The 19-year-old Peruvian American actress has been cast to play Juliet in 20th Century Fox’s Rosalinea comedic and revisionist take on Romeo & Juliet with Kaitlyn Dever attached to star.

Isabela Merced

Karen Maine will direct, with 21 Laps, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen producing.

The script is based on the novel When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle and is a modern twist on the classic William Shakespeare tale. We see “the most famous love story ever told” through the eyes of Juliet’s cousin Rosaline (Dever), a sharp but idealistic young woman—who happens to be Romeo’s recent ex. What begins as an attempt to foil the famous romance and win back her guy becomes a journey of self-discovery as she ultimately works to help get the star-crossed lovers back together.

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber penned the script.

Merced is best known for her roles in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and as Dora the Explorer in Paramount’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold movie.

She was most recently seen in Netflix’s Let It Snow and also voiced the lead character in DreamWorks Animation and Universal’Spirit Untamed.

She is currently filming Warner Bros.’ new Father of the Bride film starring Andy Garcia.

Macarena Achaga to Star Opposite Andy Garcia in “Father of the Bride” Reboot

Macarena Achaga is hearing wedding bells…

The 29-year-old Argentine-Mexican model, actress and singer is set to join Andy Garcia in the Father of the Bride reboot, which Gaz Alazraki will direct.

Macarena Achaga,

The film will revolve around a Cuban-American family, based on a script from Matt Lopez.

The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film. While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy film and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s.

Achaga will be playing the stepmother to the groom. Gloria Estefan is set to play Garcia’s wife, with Adria Arjona tapped to play the bride-to-be. Diego Boneta is on board to play the groom.

Dede Garner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce for Plan B Entertainment. Garcia and Paul Perez will executive produce.

Achaga stars in Netflix’s international hit series, Luis Miguel, playing Luis’ daughter, Michelle. She also can be seen starring in popular Mexican series such as Amar a MuerteJuliantina and El Candidto.

Isabela Merced to Star in Warner Bros.’ Remake of “Father of the Bride”

Isabela Merced is joining the wedding party…

The 19-year-old Peruvian American actress/singer, who starred in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, will star opposite Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan in Warner Bros.‘ remake of Father of the Bride.

Isabela Merced

Gaz Alazraki, who helmed Club de Cuervos, is directing the feature, which goes before cameras in May.

Like previous iterations of Bride, which includes a Spencer Tracy-fronted 1950 movie and the Steve Martin-starring 1991 feature, the latest remake will center on the father of a soon-to-be bride coming to terms with his daughter’s nuptials.

The latest take, however, will be told through the relationships in a big, sprawling Cuban American family.

Merced will play the sister of the bride, who is being played by Adria Arjona. Garcia is the father.

Matt Lopez wrote the script for the update.

In addition to starring in Dora, in which she toplined as the globe-trotting adventuress, Merced co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in Instant Family, was part of the ensemble for Netflix’s Let It Snow, and appeared with Benicio Del Toro in Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

She next voice-stars in DreamWorks Animation’s Spirit Untamed and will be protected by Jason Momoa in action-thriller Sweet Girl. Both are due to be released this summer.

Merced is signed to Republic Records.

Gloria Estefan to Star in “Father of the Bride” Reboot

Gloria Estefan is circling the mother of a role…

The 63-year-old Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman is in talks to star opposite Andy Garcia in Warner Bros. and Plan B’s Cuban-American reboot of the Father of the Bride films.

Gloria Estefan

Directed by Gaz Alazraki, the film is being penned by Matt Lopez. Estefan would play Garcia’s wife, with Adria Arjona tapped to play the bride-to-be.

The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film. While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy film and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s.

WB execs thought it was a long shot that Estefan would be interested, but between Lopez’s script and Garcia’s and Alazraki’s involvement, the opportunity for Estefan was simply too hard to pass up.

“A resounding YES was my answer to the invitation to join my good friend, the incredibly talented Andy Garcia, for this new and wonderfully warm and funny incarnation of the classic, Father of the Bride! I’ve been a fan of director Gaz Alazraki since I saw his record-breaking comedy Nosotros Los Nobles and can’t wait to experience how he brings this amazing script by Matt Lopez to life,” Estefan said.

Estefan’s music has people running to the dance floor for decades going all the way back to when she was the lead singer of Miami Sound Machine and “Conga” hit the airwaves in 1985. Since then her musical library could rival any singer in the world, and Hollywood has been no stranger to using her music in dozens of movies. Estefan has rarely made the jump to the big screen herself, with this only being the third time she has acted in a movie. She made her acting debut opposite Meryl Streep in 1999’s Music of the Heartalso providing the Oscar-nominated song of the same title. Most recently she appeared in Kenny Ortega’s A Change of Heart.

Adria Arjona to Star in Warner Bros. & Plan B’s Reboot of “Father of the Bride”

Adria Arjona is heading down the aisle…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star as Andy Garcia’s daughter and the bride-to-be in Warner Bros. and Plan B’s reboot of Father of the Bride

Adria Arjona

Gaz Alazraki has been set to helm the studio’s new reboot, which will revolve around a Cuban-American family, with Matt Lopez penning the script.

The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film.

While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy film and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s.

Dede Garner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce for Plan B Entertainment. Garcia will executive-produce.

Arjona’s breakout role came on Legendary’s Pacific Rim: Uprising, where she co-starred opposite John Boyega and Scott Eastwood. She would follow that up with key roles in Life of the PartyTriple Frontier and most recently in the Michael Bay action pic 6 Underground.

She can be seen next in Sony’s extended Marvel Universe film Morbius, which also stars Jared Leto and Matt Smith.

Arjona was recently tapped for the female lead in the anticipated Rogue One spinoff series Andorwhich also stars Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgard.

Andy Garcia to Star in the Latinx-Themed “Father of the Bride” Reboot

Andy Garcia has landed the father of all roles…

The 64-year-old Cuban actor will star in Warner Bros. and Plan B’s reboot of Father of the Bride

Andy Garcia

Gaz Alazraki has been set to helm the studio’s new reboot, which will revolve around a Latinx family, with Matt Lopez penning the script.

The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film. While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy pic and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s.

“I’m very excited to join The Father of the Bride, a beloved film that has brought so much joy to so many over the years and to represent my Cuban culture and heritage in this story,” Garcia said. “I commend Warner Bros. for their foresight and celebrate this opportunity they have created. I am looking forward to my collaboration with our talented director Gaz Alazraki and producers Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner from Plan B. “

Dede Garner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce for Plan B Entertainment. Garcia will exec produce.

The veteran actor best known for roles in the Ocean Eleven franchise and The Godfather Part IIIGarcia can be seen next opposite Katey Sagal in the highly anticipated ABC drama Rebel.

Arturo Castro to Star in Quibi’s Comedy Series “Flipped”

Arturo Castro has Flipped out!

The 33-year-old Guatemalan actor is set to star in Flipped, a new comedy series from Groundlings alums Steve Mallory and Damon Jones, and Funny or Die, for Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s short-form video platform Quibi

Arturo Castro

Castro will star opposite Eva LongoriaAndy GarciaWill Forteand Kaitlin Olsonin the series, which is currently in production.

Written by Mallory and Jones, Flipped centers around chronically underemployed couple Jann (Forte) and Cricket Melfi (Olson), self-proclaimed home renovation “experts” who are more than confident they are television’s next great home design celebrity duo. Flipped follows the clueless pair as their dreams of basic cable fame and glory are derailed when they get themselves kidnapped by members of a drug cartel, (Garcia, Longoria, and Castro) and are forced to renovate their sprawling homes.

Ryan Caseis directing the project.

Castro is the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of Comedy Central’s Alternatino.He’s known for his breakout role as Jaimé on Broad City, which aired for five seasons on Comedy Central and will soon be seen in the live action version of Lady and the Trampwhich will be released on Disney+.

Longoria co-stars in the live-action feature film Dora and the Lost City of Gold and will next be seen in the feature film Sylvie opposite Tessa Thompson. She is an executive producer on ABC’s summer drama Grand Hotel.

Garcia recently filmed Brian Petsos’ upcoming feature Big Gold Brick, Words on Bathroom Walls, directed by Thor Freudenthaland Redemption Day, a feature film directed by Hicham Hajji.

Lucrecia’s “Celia Cruz: The Musical!” to Open in New York City’s Lehman Center in November

Lucrecia is ready to bring a legend’s story to life in the Big Apple…

The Lehman Center for the Performing Arts has just announced the New York premiere of Celia Cruz: The Musical!, starring the 52-year-old Cuban singer as the late Queen of Salsa, scheduled for November 16. 

lucrecia-as-celia-cruz-the-musical

The show, which premiered at the Starlite Festival in Marbella, Spain, and has been performed at Miami’s Adrienne Arscht Center, was written and directed by Gonzalo Rodríguez and Jeffry Batista, with Omer Pardillo-Cid, the executor of the Celia Cruz Estate, as executive producer.

Pardillo has described Cruz as “a black woman, who was poor, who left Cuba and conquered the world,” becoming, he says, “the Lady Gagaof her time.” 

The musical, which Pardillo ensures tells the true story of the woman known all over the world as the “salsa queen,” re-creates Cruz’s final concert before her death in 2003 at age 77, flashing back to episodes cued by well-known songs, from “Quimbara”to “La Negra Tiene Tumbao.”

Celia Cruz

“Celia conquered the world with her voice and her huge heart,” Lucrecia says. “She was noble, a woman of the old school. She remembered everyone’s name. You’d meet her once and she’d be sending you postcards for the rest of her life.”

During the show, Lucrecia makes 18 costume changes, wearing dresses and wigs that a Miami seamstress painstakingly copied from Cruz’s original show wardrobe. The singer performs monologues that encapsulate different periods of Cruz’s life, setting up songs that took her career from Cuba, where as a young woman she had her big break with La Sonora Matancera, to the heady days of New York salsa with the Fania All Stars, to her later years as an international icon.

“My admiration, respect and love for Celia runs very deep,” Lucrecia says. “I do the show with love, without any sense of rivalry or trying to take her place. I come out on stage to bring her alive.”

Lucrecia, whose given name is Lucrecia Pérez-Saéz, became known in Cuba as a lead vocalist and pianist with the iconic all-women band Anacaona. In 1993, she settled in Barcelona and formed her own group. The Latin Grammynominee (for 2010’s Álbum de Cuba), frequently recognized on the street by her trademark colored braids, is now a household name in Spain for her role as the singing host of the children’s television series Los Lunnis; she also appears in movie based on the series that premiered in Spanish theaters early this year. 

Lucrecia is set to receive recognition as the Best Latin American Children’s Movie Actress and Best Children’s Music Singer at the Premios Latino 2019 awards in Marbella in September.

In 1998, Lucrecia appeared with Cruz, the great bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez and actor, musician and producer Andy Garcia at an event organized by Bacardi rum in Marbella.

 “I met her at the press conference,” she recalls. “I was so nervous.” During that presentation, Cruz called Lucrecia her successor.  Lucrecia wrote a song in Cruz’s honor, “Agua con Azucar y Ron.”

Lucrecia recalls Cruz calling her when she was pregnant, and later bringing gifts for her son. “La Vida Es un Carnaval” was the first song that Lucrecia sang to him in the hospital. They remained friends until the end of Cruz’s life.

Celia’s career was long, and when you have a career like that you can start on one path and then take another,” notes Lucrecia. “Of course, there are evolutions,” she says, pointing to Cruz’s 2001, “La Negra Tiene Tumbao,” which has an urban beat and premiered accompanied by a fabulous video by Cuban director Ernesto Fundora

“Reggaeton was just coming out at that time, and there she was, doing reggaeton!

“They called her the queen of salsa,” Lucrecia adds, “but she was always the guarachera de Cuba. It was always about her Cuba, and taking it with her around the world.”

Andy Garcia to Star Opposite Kenan Thompson in NBC’s Comedy Pilot “The Kenan Show”

It’s a big first for Andy Garcia

The 62-year-old  Cuban actor and director will star opposite Kenan Thompson in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot The Kenan Show (fka Saving Kenan), from Universal Television

Andy Garcia

This marks Garcia’s first television series regular role.

Written by Jackie Clarke and directed by Chris RockThe Kenan Show centers on a newly widowed dad (Thompson) determined to be everything for his kids while begrudgingly letting his persistent father-in-law, Percy (Garcia), a retired police officer, become more involved in their lives.

Thompson, Clarke and Rock executive produce with Lorne Michaelsand Andrew Singerfor Broadway Video.

This is a rare televisoin acting gig for Garcia whose biggest series commitment to date had been an arc on HBO’s Ballers. He received two Emmynominations for the HBO film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story

In features, Garcia appeared in Mamma Mia: Here We Go AgainBook ClubThe Mule and Bentlast year. 

This spring, he’ll begin production on Brian Petsos’ film Big Gold Brick and will star in Words on Bathroom Walls directed by Thor Freudenthal

He also will be seen in Amazon’s anthology series Modern Romance.