Tag Archives: Bay of Pigs

Danny Pino Lands Leading Role in MGM+’s Crime Thriller “Hotel Cocaine”

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Danny Pino is checking in to a new project…

The 48-year-old Cuban American actor, who stars in Mayans M.C., will star as the lead in Hotel Cocaine, MGM+’s upcoming crime thriller from creator Chris Brancato.

Danny PinoHotel Cocaine is the story of Roman Compte (Pino), a Cuban expatriate who fought against Fidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs invasion and re-made his life in Miami. He is general manager of the Mutiny Hotel, the glamorous epicenter of the Miami cocaine scene of late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The Mutiny Hotel was Casablanca on cocaine, a glitzy nightclub, restaurant and hotel frequented by Florida businessmen and politicians, international narcos, CIA and FBI agents, models, sports stars and musicians. At the center of it all was Compte, who was doing his best to keep it all going and fulfill his own American dream.

Brancato serves as executive producer and showrunner. Guillermo Navarro will direct the pilot episode and executive produce the series, with Michael Panes and Alfredo Barrios Jr. also serving as executive producers. The eight-episode series from MGM+ Studios, in partnership with MGM Television, will begin production in May in the Dominican Republic, and is slated to premiere in early 2024.

Pino, born and raised in Miami, stars as organized crime boss Miguel Galindo in Mayans M.C., which is heading into its fifth and final season on FX.

He made his episodic directorial debut in the drama’s fourth season. Pino, also known for his roles as police detective Nick Amaro on Law & Order: SVU and Detective Scotty Valens on Cold Case, recently completed the short film, Union de Reyes (Union of Kings), which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in.

Hotel Cocaine will be distributed internationally by MGM.

del Toro to Star in Cuban Mafia-Themed Film “The Corporation”

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Benicio del Toro is joining the Cuban mafia…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican-American actor will star in The Corporation, which takes place over the decades between the 1950s and 1980s in Miami and New York.

Benicio del Toro

Based on T.J. English’s yet-to-be-published book The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, del Toro will play Jose Miguel Battle Sr., who leads the eponymous and hugely powerful Cuban mafia. Born in Havana, Battle escaped to the U.S. following the rise of Fidel Castro. Alongside his team of fellow Cubans, Battle was trained by the CIA so that he could fight in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Despite his name, things didn’t go so well for Battle during the attempted invasion, as he was captured, which led to him being imprisoned inside a Cuban prison. Battle failed to find the light side during his incarceration, and, when he was released, he headed straight back to the U.S. where he set off to build a huge criminal empire alongside the same posse of men that he fought with. His empire revolved around drug trafficking, gambling, and, even murder, and made him one of the most powerful crime bosses in the US until his death in 2007.

The nonfiction book will be published in winter 2017 by William Morrow. It’s being called a Cuban version of The Godfather and American Gangster.

del Toro is coming off a sizzling performance in Sicario, and this is an opportunity to play another badass character.

Paramount Studios and Appian Way have the film rights.