Angel Studios to Release Alejandro Monteverde’s Film “Cabrini” in March 2024

Alejandro Monteverde is planning to release his next project in March…

The 46-year-old Mexican filmmaker and Sound of Freedom director is reteaming with Angel Studios to release his next movie, Cabrini on March 8, 2024.

Alejandro Monteverde,Angels Studios and Monteverde had monumental success this past summer as the anti-child trafficking film, Sound of Freedom, racked up $180M at the domestic B.O. The film, is rolling out overseas.

Cabriniwhich tells the story of Francesca Cabrini, a poor, audacious Italian immigrant who became one of the great entrepreneurs of the 19th century. Through her willpower, courage, compassion, and business skill, she overcame sexism and violent anti-Italian bigotry while fighting against an establishment seeking to hold her back.

The film stars Cristiana Dell’Anna as Cabrini, John Lithgow, David Morse, Giancarlo Giannini and Federico Castelluccio.

“Francesca Cabrini is one of the most inspiring and influential figures in modern history, and yet few know her story. Faced with seemingly insurmountable life obstacles, Cabrini chose instead to focus on how she could change the status quo in her time, and her impact on the world is still felt today,” said Liz Ellis, Chief Operating Officer at Angel Studios. “We’re thrilled to be able to share her unbelievable story in theaters this Spring. This will be our second collaboration with Sound of Freedom director Alejandro Monteverde—and the Angel Guild gave this film even higher ratings than Sound of Freedom. Our community has high expectations for this project.”

Angel Studios already had the date RSVPed on the release calendar. The film will open against Paramount’A Quiet Place: Day One and Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung-Fu Panda 4.

Javier Bardem Joins Voice Cast of Animated Film “Spellbound”

Javier Bardem is officially feelin’ the magic…

The 53-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor has joined the voice cast of the animated film Spellbound.

Javier BardemLed by West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler, the recently expanded voice cast also includes Bardem’s Being the Ricardos co-star Nicole Kidman, John LithgowNathan LaneJenifer LewisAndré De Shields and Jordan Fisher.

The upcoming musical from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation will have Kidman voicing Ellsmere, the kind and just, yet hyper-precise Queen of Lumbria, with Bardem as Lumbria’s boastful yet big-hearted King, Solon. Together, they are the parents of Princess Ellian (Zegler), who they join on her daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms them into monsters and threatens to cover Lumbria in darkness forever.

Lithgow and Lewis will voice Princess Ellian’s royal advisors, Minister Bolinar and Minister Nazara Prone, with Lane and De Shields as The Oracles of the Sun and Moon that Ellian seeks out to break the spell on her parents and the kingdom.

Additional characters aiding Ellian throughout her journey include the young nomad Callan, voiced by Fisher.

Academy Award winner Alan Menken is providing the film’s original score and songs, with song lyrics by Glenn Slater. Chris Montan is serving as executive music producer.

Bardem, who landed his fourth nom for his portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, recently appeared in Dune and Fernando León de Aranoa’s comedy The Good Boss.

His upcoming projects include Columbia Pictures’ adaptation of the children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid and Dune: Part Two.

Santino Fontana to Perform During Broadway “Show of Titles” Musical Event to Benefit The Actors Fund

Santino Fontana is a title(s) act…

The 39-year-old part-Spanish America actor will perform at Show of Titles, a special livestreamed musical event next month benefiting The Actors Fund.

Santino Fontana

Fontana joins a lineup of nearly 30 stars – from Glenn ClosePatti LuPone, Darren Criss, Kelsey Grammar and David Alan Grier to Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Henry and Phillipa Soo – who will perform title songs from more than 20 musicals.

The event will feature title songs of Broadway musicals spanning nine decades, from “Lady Be Good” to “The Light in the Piazza.”

The line-up also includes Annaleigh Ashford, Len Cariou, Isabelle Huppert, Norm Lewis, Rob McClure, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Melba Moore, Jessie Mueller, Eva Noblezada, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, Michael Rupert, Ernie Sabella, Lea Salonga, Will Swenson, Aaron Tveit, Leslie Uggams, Vanessa Williams and Patrick Wilson.

Making special appearances will be Broadway Inspirational Voices, Candice Bergen, Danny Burstein, Bryan Cranston, Sheldon Harnick, John Kander, Angela Lansbury, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Phylicia Rashad, Ben Vereen, BD Wong and Florian Zeller.

Conceived by Broadway’s Best Shows producer Jeffrey RichardsShow of Titles will be directed by Lonny Price, with music direction by Jason Howland, and livestreamed on June 8, 8:00 pm ET on Stellar for a limited time only.

Tickets went on sale May 17 for $29 ($39 starting May 21), with all sales donated to The Actor’s Fund.

Composers represented include Lee Adams, Maxwell Anderson, Burt Bacharach, Irving Berlin, Jerry Bock, Bertolt Brecht, Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, Joe Darion, Hal David, Fred Ebb, Gary Geld, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Adolph Green, Adam Guettel, Oscar Hammerstein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Herman, John Kander, Burton Lane, Mitch Leigh, Alan Jay Lerner, Frank Loesser, Frederick Loewe, Galt MacDermot, Cole Porter, James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Richard Rodgers, Charles Strouse, Jule Styne, Peter Udell and Kurt Weill.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Perform at This Year’s Tony Awards

Lin-Manuel Miranda is making his triumphant return to the Tony Awards

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican composer, playwright, actor and singer will perform on Sunday’s Tonycast, almost one year after his hit Broadway musical Hamilton swept the awards.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The casts of Bandstand, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Falsettos, Groundhog Day The Musical, Hello, Dolly!, Miss Saigon, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and War Paint will perform during 71st Annual Tony Awards, which CBS will broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall from 8:00 to 11:00 PM.

There’s still no word on what Miranda will perform.

There will be additional performances by The Radio City Rockettes and Tony Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton).

There will be additional appearances by Scott Bakula, Sara Bareilles, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bloom, Glenn Close, Stephen Colbert, Brian d’Arcy James, Cynthia Erivo, Tina Fey, Sutton Foster, Josh Gad, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Groff, Mark Hamill, Taraji P. Henson, Christopher Jackson, Allison Janney, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Keegan-Michael Key, Nick Kroll, John Legend, John Lithgow, Patina Miller, John Mulaney, David Oyelowo, Chazz Palminteri, Sarah Paulson, Lea Salonga, Tom Sturridge, Tommy Tune, Olivia Wilde, and 2017 Tony nominees Sally Field, Josh Groban, Bette Midler and Ben Platt.

Although Midler will appear as a presenter in one of the acting categories, she is not scheduled to participate in the Hello, Dolly! segment, which will be led by co-star Hyde Pierce. The blockbuster production’s offer to present the title song, or another of Dolly’s show-stoppers, live via remote from the Shubert Theatre was declined by the Tony producers.

The ceremony will be hosted by Tony and Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey.

The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Hayek’s “Beatriz at Dinner” to Open This Year’s Sundance Film Festival: London

Salma Hayek’s latest project is ready to see the Sun(dance) across the pond…

Miguel Arteta’s Beatriz at Dinner, starring the 50-year-old Mexican actress, will open this year’s Sundance Film Festival: London.

Salma Hayek in Beatriz at Dinner

The film, which had its world premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, will be introduced to London audiences by Arteta, Hayek and screenwriter Mike White in the capital city’s Picturehouse Central cinema on June 1.

In the critically acclaimed film, Hayek plays Beatriz, an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, who has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner in Southern California. Don Strutt is a real estate developer whose cutthroat tactics have made him a self-made, self-satisfied billionaire. When the two polar opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide and neither is ever the same.

The dark comedy also stars Connie Britton, Chloe Sevigny and Jay Duplass.

Roadside Attractions is set to release the title in the United States on June 9.

“We look forward to launching our fifth festival in London with Beatriz at Dinner, a masterful dramedy of errors from director Miguel Arteta and screenwriter Mike White and starring Salma Hayek,” said Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper. “This was a standout at our Utah Festival in January and is a wonderful example of the continued innovation and creativity of our independent filmmakers that we’ll showcase in London again this year.”

The full program for the fifth edition of Sundance’s London edition is expected to be announced soon. It will feature international and UK premieres of films from films that were featured in Sundance in January.

Sundance Institute will also be launching a festival in Hong Kong in September.

Sundance Film Festival: London will take place from June 1-4.

Ambrosio to Star in Paramount Pictures’ “Daddy’s Home 2”

Alessandra Ambrosio is returning Home

Following a cameo appearance in the 2015 comedy Daddy’s Home, the 35-year-old Brazilian supermodel and Victoria’s Secret Angel is set to return in a more prominent role for Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Daddy’s Home 2.

Alessandra Ambrosio

The film will see Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell reprising their roles, as well as new additions Mel Gibson and John Lithgow.

In the sequel, father and stepfather, Dusty (Wahlberg) and Brad (Ferrell), are now working together to give their kids a perfect Christmas, however, upon the arrival of Dusty’s dad (Gibson) and Brad’s dad (Lithgow), their blended family conflicts rise to the surface.

Sean Anders is directing a script he wrote with John Morris.

Ambrosio most recently appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Roadside Attractions/FilmNation Acquires North American Rights to Hayek’s “Beatriz at Dinner”

Salma Hayek is bringing dinner to North American audiences…

Roadside Attractions and FilmNation Entertainment have acquired the North American rights to Miguel Arteta’s Beatriz at Dinner, starring the 50-year-old Mexican actress.

Salma Hayek

The film, written by Mike White, centers on an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico. Hayek’s title character, Beatriz, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner. Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) is a cutthroat, self-satisfied billionaire. When these two opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide and neither will be the same.

Roadside Attractions and FilmNation also acquired distribution rights for the film in Australia and New Zealand.

The film premiered on January 23 at the Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival.

Rodriguez’s “Trial & Error” Comedy Headed to Series at NBC

Krysta Rodriguez is headed to Trial

NBC has picked up its Trial & Error pilot, starring the 31-year-old Latina actress and former Smash star, to series.

Krysta Rodriguez

From Warner Bros. Television, the single-camera comedy – originally titled The Trail – had been an early favorite at NBC, which landed the pitch with a big commitment last summer and had been high on the pilot since its early stages. 

Trial & Error, written by Jeff Astrof and Matt Miller, is a comedic take on the hot genre of murder trail documentaries like Making a Murderer.

In the outrageous fish-out-of-water comedy, bright-eyed New York lawyer Josh Segal heads to a tiny Southern town for his first big case. His mission: to defend an eccentric, “rollercizing” poetry professor (John Lithgow) accused of the bizarre murder of his beloved wife. Settling into his makeshift office behind a taxidermy shop and meeting his quirky team of local misfits, Josh suspects that winning his first big case will not be easy, especially when his client is always making himself look guilty.

In addition to Rodriguez and Lithgow, the series also stars Nick D’Agosto, Steven Boyer, Sherri Shepherd and Jayma Mays.

Rodriguez to Star in NBC’s Documentary-Style Comedy Pilot “The Trail”

Krysta Rodriguez is blazing new trail

The 31-year-old Latina actress and former Smash star has been cast opposite John Lithgow in The Trail, NBC’s documentary-style procedural comedy from comedy veteran Jeff AstrofForever creator Matt Miller and Warner Bros. Television.

Krysta Rodriguez

Written by Astrof and Miller and to be directed by Jeffrey BlitzThe Trail, whose title is a scrambled version of “trial,” follows Josh Simon (Nick D’Agosto), a young big-city lawyer and his oddball defense team during a high-profile murder trial in a small Southern town. Sent from his big New York law firm to small town South Carolina to prep a ragtag team in defending a poetry professor Larry Henderson (Lithgow) accused of murdering his wife, Josh tries to keep his optimism while feeling a bit out of his element — both professionally and as the first “Northeasterner” many of the townspeople have seen.

Rodriguez will play Summer Henderson, Larry’s free-spirited adopted daughter, who comes back to town to help her father.

Rodriguez, who appeared on ABC Family’s Chasing Life, also appeared on Broadway in The Addams Family musical.

Ochoa to Lead the Voice Cast of Disney-Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur”

Raymond Ochoa has earned a Dino-mite gig…

Disney-Pixar has unveiled the all-new  cast of The Good Dinosaur, with the 13-year-old Latino actor voicing the character of Arlo, an Apatosaurus who is separated from his family when he falls into a raging river and is swept hundreds of miles away.

Raymond Ochoa

He comes across Spot (Jack Bright), a human cave-boy orphan with whom he forms a bond as he attempts to get home.

The new cast also includes Jeffrey Wright as Arlo’s dad, Poppa; Steve Zahn as a pterodactyl named Thunderclap; AJ Buckley as Nash, a T-rex; Anna Paquin as Ramsey the T-rex; Sam Elliott as a tough T-rex named Butch and Marcus Scribner as Arlo’s brother Buck.

The Good Dinosaur

The long-in-the-works animated film will hit theaters Thanksgiving week.

Originally set for release in summer 2014, the film has seen a number of obstacles since its original voice cast was unveiled at Disney’s D23 in August 2013. Raising Hope’s Lucas Neff was set as Arlo, with John Lithgow as Poppa, Frances McDormand as Momma and Bill Hader, Judy Greer and Neil Patrick Harris as Arlo’s siblings.

But just five weeks later, Disney announced that it had pushed Good Dinosaur back a year and a half as rookie feature director Pete Sohn stepped in for the departed Bob Peterson.

Ochoa, the younger brother of actor Ryan Ochoa, is best known for his roles in 10 Items or Less, Merry Christmas and Drake and Josh.