Jenner to Star Opposite Hailee Steinfeld in Coming-of-Age Comedy from STX Entertainment

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Blake Jenner has landed his next project…

The 23-year-old half-Cuban American actor/singer and former Glee star will star opposite Hailee Steinfeld in STX Entertainment’s untitled coming-of-age drama film.

Formerly titled Besties, the film is a wry coming-of-age comedy about Nadine (Steinfeld) and Krista, inseparable best friends attempting to navigate high school together…until Nadine discovers her older brother and Krista have been secretly dating behind her back. They soon realize that there is a fine line between best friends and worst enemies.

Jenner will portray the older brother, a popular and handsome soccer player who is the exact opposite of Nadine. Despite the differences between the siblings, Jenner’s character is described as the one keeping the family together amid the turmoil.

Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick and Hayden Szeto also star in the film from first time writer-director Kelly Fremon.

Jenner is best known for winning the second season of Oxygen’s The Glee Project, earning him a role on Fox’s Glee.

He’ll soon appear in the films Within and Billy Boy. He also stars in Everybody Wants Some, the Richard Linklater film that Paramount Pictures will release on April 15, 2016.

Del Rio Joins the Cast of Fox’s Upcoming Musical “Grease: Live”

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Grease is the word for David Del Rio…

The 28-year-old Latino actor has joined the cast of Fox’s upcoming musical Grease: Live.

Del Rio, who starred in the Broadway musical In the Heights, will portray T-Birds’ Putzie in the live event.

Del Rio joins the ensemble cast that includes Julianne Hough (Sandy), Aaron Tveit (Danny), Vanessa Hudgens (Rizzo), Carlos PenaVega (Kenickie), Keke Palmer (Marty), Carly Rae Jepsen (Frenchy) and Kether Donohue (Jan).

Meanwhile singer, Jessie J, will open the live event with a new version of “Grease (Is the Word).” The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb wrote the song, which originally was performed by Frankie Valli in the animated opening title sequence of the movie and went on top the pop charts.

Also joining the creative team is Glee and Annie choreographer Zach Woodlee. His credits also include the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother and 2008’s MTV Movie Awards, as well as the films Eat Pray Love, Hairspray, 27 Dresses and 17 Again.

Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski are directing the production, which Fox airs on Sunday, January 31 — live in the East and delayed in the West.

Del Rio’s other credits include Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Troop, Pitch Perfect and Spare Parts.

Rivera Gives Birth to Her First Child

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

The stork has arrived at Naya Rivera’s home…

The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress, who most recently appeared on Lifetime’s Devious Maids, and her husband, actor Ryan Dorsey, have welcomed a new baby boy.

E! News reports that Rivera gave birth to Josey Hollis Dorsey, the couple’s first child, on September 17 in Los Angeles.

The Glee actress first announced that she and Dorsey were expecting in April on her baby blog, which she has since used to document her pregnancy.

Dorsey and Rivera were married in 2014 during a private ceremony in Mexico, where they were joined by 12 guests.

New Line Cinema Acquires Rights to Gomez-Rejon’s Will Smith-Starrer “Collateral Beauty”

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Life’s a beauty for Alfonso Gomez-Rejon…

New Line Cinema has acquired worldwide rights on the Latino filmmaker’s upcoming project Collateral Beauty.

In the Gomez-Rejon’s film, Will Smith stars as a New York advertising executive who experiences a personal tragedy and the subsequent unconventional plan from his colleagues to break him out of his depression.

Overbrook Entertainment is coming aboard to co-produce the project alongside Anonymous Content, PalmStar Media and Likely Story.

Written by Allan Loeb, the project will be directed by Gomez-Rejon (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl).

PalmStar and Likely Story paid $2.25 million for the script.

Principal photography is expected to begin in October.

Gomez-Rejon’s previously directed the film The Town That Dreaded Sundown, as well as episodes for Red Band Society, The Carrie Diaries, American Horror Story and Glee.

Aguirre-Sacasa’s Brides of Dracula-Themed Project Lands Pilot Production Commitment at NBC

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

NBC is taking a bite out of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s latest project…

The Nicaraguan-American playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer’s gothic soap opera drama with top television producer Greg Berlanti, Brides, has landed at NBC with a pilot production commitment.

Written by Aguirre-Sacasa, Brides is described as a sexy reimagining of Dracula as a family drama with a trio of strong, diverse female leads, a show about empowered women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their non-traditional family.

The project hails from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Productions, with Aguirre-Sacasa, Berlanti and Sarah Schechter executive producing.

Known in popular culture as the Brides of Dracula, the three characters, originally introduced in Bram Stoker’s classic novel, are portrayed as beautiful and powerful female vampire “sisters” who reside with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania where they use their charm to seduce and bewitch men before preying on them. They manage to entrance Van Helsing too before he shakes off their spell and kills them. The characters are a staple in the Dracula mythology and have appeared in most Dracula screen adaptations, headlining the 1960 British movie The Brides Of Dracula.

Aguirre-Sacasa’s project imagines what would have happened if Van Helsing had not killed the three brides of Dracula. What if they survived for centuries and are now living in New York City?

Brides expands the relationship between Aguirre-Sacasa, chief creative officer of Archie Comics, and Berlanti. The two teamed last season for Riverdale, a live-action drama based on the characters from the Archie comics. The project, originally set up at Fox, recently relocated to the CW where it is in active development.

Aguirre-Sacasa previously worked for Marvel Comics, did stints on HBO’s Big Love and Looking and Fox’s Glee, and wrote the feature remakes of Carrie and The Town That Dreaded Sundown as well as the Broadway-bound stage musical adaptation of American Psycho.

Michele Appears in First Official Look at Fox’s “Scream Queens”

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Lea Michele is bracing for a Screamfest…

The 28-year-old part-Spanish actress and former Glee star gets her geek on in the first official teaser for Fox’s highly anticipated show Scream Queens.

In the clip for the comedy/horror anthology from Glee and American Horror Story mastermind Ryan Murphy, Michele appears to be having a bad hair day while wearing a neck brace in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

The series revolved around a college rocked by a series of murders. “Worst case scenario. There is a serial killer on the loose,” says Jamie Lee Curtis’ character Cathy Munsch, the dean of students at the college.

In addition to the quick look at Michele’s character and Curtis, the clip also offers at look at stars Ariana Grande and Emma Roberts.

The cast also includes Keke Palmer, Skyler Samuels, Billie Lourd and Oliver Hudson.

Scream Queens is produced by 20th Century Fox Television in association Ryan Murphy Television.

The 15-episode first season premieres in the fall.

Michele to Star Opposite Kate Upton in the Road Trip Sex Comedy “The Layover”

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Lea Michele has a post-Glee layover…

The 28-year-old part-Spanish actress has been cast in in The Layover, the William H. Macy-directed road trip sex comedy written by David Hornsby and Lance Krall.

Michele and Kate Upton will portray a pair of lifelong best friends who decide to avoid their problems by taking a vacation only to find that their plane has been rerouted due to a hurricane warning. To make matters worse, the two friends find themselves battling for the same guy during an extended layover in St. Louis. Macy will play a role in the film as well.

“The minute I met Lea and Kate, the film began to focus for me,” said Macy, moonlighting from his series Shameless. “They are singular, ambitious funny women in full. This is going to be fun.”

Michele, who recently wrapped up the sixth and final season of Glee, has reteamed with Ryan Murphy on Fox’s anthology series Scream Queens.

Upton co-starred with Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann in Fox’s The Other Woman.

Production on The Layover is imminent.

Smollet’s “Empire” Soundtrack Reaches No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jussie Smollett is a chart-topper…

The 31-year-old Brazilian actor/singer and the stars of Fox‘s Empire have reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the breakout hit series’ soundtrack debuts atop the list.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

The Empire soundtrack was released March 10 through Columbia Records and bows at the top spot with 130,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 15, according to Nielsen Music.

It’s the first television soundtrack to debut at No. 1 since 2010, when three different Glee albums arrived atop the list.

Empire features contributions from its newcomer cast, like Smollett, as well as hitmakers like Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Estelle, Rita Ora, Juicy J and Courtney Love (all of which have guest-starred on the show).

Empire earned 17,000 units from track equivalent albums (thanks to the strong performance of the set’s multiple Billboard Hot 100 hit singles like “You’re So Beautiful” and “Conqueror“), while it tallied another 3,000 units from streaming equivalent albums.

Also helping matters: During release week, Smollett performed on TV’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show (March 9) and on Fox’s American Idol three days later (joined by fellow cast member Yazz).

Smollett and His “Empire” Castmates May Soon Hit the Road

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jussie Smollett may soon be performing at a concert venue near you…

Fox is “certainly thinking” about sending out the stars of its insta-hit hip-hop drama series Empire out on tour, according to EW.com.

Dana Walden, co-chair and co-CEO of Fox Television Group, tells the site that a live musical tour — much like the one the network did with Glee for two summers — is a definite possibility for the ratings juggernaut.

“There’s no reason not to think of having all sorts of ancillary opportunities with this show,” Walden says.

Empire, which earned an early sophomore season renewal in January, has proven to be a ratings hit. For an unbelievable seventh week in a row, the series — a primetime soap about a family dynasty divided by the fight to control a hip-hop empire — surged in the ratings, netting 13.8 million viewers last Wednesday. That’s up from the previous week’s 13 million viewers, up from the previous week’s 12 million.

Boneta to Star in Fox’s Comedy-Horror Series “Scream Queens”

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Boneta is a scream king…

The Mexican actor-singer has been cast as one of the male leads in Scream Queens, Fox’s comedy-horror series created by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.

The project revolves around a college campus that’s rocked by a series of murders.

Boneta is reportedly set to portray a bookish but handsome guy in the first installment of the anthology series slated for fall.

Boneta, who starred in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, joins an ensemble cast that includes Lea Michele, Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Skyler Samuels, Nick Jonas, Keke Palmer, Joe Manganiello, Ariana Grande and Abigail Breslin.

Boneta will next be seen in CBS miniseries The Dovekeepers, produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, and the Imagine feature Pelé.

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