Eva Longoria to Headline CNN+’s Original Docuseries “Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico”

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria is on the search south of the border…

The 46-year-old Mexican American actress/producer will headline CNN+’s original docuseries Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico, which is slated to launch in 2022.

A new iteration of CNN’s popular Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, the six-part series will follow Longoria as she travels across Mexico exploring the country’s cuisine.

The streamer’s announcement teases that the multihyphenate’s journey will take her to various regions including Oaxaca, where she’ll slow cook traditional mole sauce, to harvesting blue agave for tequila as the Aztecs once did.

“Partnering with CNN on a culinary-driven expedition throughout Mexico is a dream come true. I am so proud of my Mexican American roots and can’t wait to bring the hidden gems of Mexico to the world through Searching for Mexico,” said Longoria in a statement. “I am a huge fan of Stanley’s journey throughout Italy; he set the bar high, and I can’t wait for everyone to fall in love with the magic of Mexico.”

Searching for Mexico will be produced by RAW, the film and TV company behind Searching for Italy.

Putting Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico on CNN+ vs. the linear network which carries the mothership series illustrates the big push CNN’s leadership has been making to build up its streaming platform

Executive producers include Longoria, Ben Spector, and Tucci with RAW’s Tom Barry, Eve Kay, and Jess Orr.

AMC Offers First Look at Alejandro Amenábar’s First Television Series “La Fortuna”

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alejandro Amenábar’s fortune is being finalized…

AMC has released the first stills from the 48-year-old Spanish-Chilean Oscar-winning film director, screenwriter and composer’s first television series La Fortuna, which is in the final stages of production in Spain and the U.S.

Based on Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral’s graphic novel El Tesoro del Cisne Negro, the story centers on young diplomat Alex Ventura who teams with a combative public official and a brilliant American lawyer to recover treasure stolen by Frank Wild, who travels the world plundering historic items from the ocean.

Stanley Tucci plays Wild, while Spanish actor Álvaro Mel features as Ventura. Spain’s Ana Polvorosa stars as Ventura’s colleague in work and adventure, Lucia. Rounding out the cast are Clarke Peters as attorney Jonas Pierce, and British actress T’Nia Miller, who plays attorney Susan McLean. Karra Elejalde, Manolo Solo, Blanca Portillo and Pedro Casablanc also appear.

The six-part MOD Pictures-produced series will premiere in 2021 on AMC in the United States, Canada, UK, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as Movistar+ in Spain.

Amenábar, who directs, won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2005 for The Sea Inside, while he directed Nicole Kidman in 2001’s The Others.

Michael Peña to Star in Roland Emmerich’s Sci-Fi Epic “Moonfall”

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Peña is out of this world…

The 45-year-old Mexican American actor has been cast in the Roland Emmerich-helmed sci-fi epic Moonfall.

Peña joins an A-list ensemble cast that includes Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Eme Ikwuakor, Charlie Plummer and Donald Sutherland.

The space drama takes off with a mysterious force that knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact, and against all odds, a ragtag team launches an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love and risking everything to land on the lunar surface and save our planet from annihilation.

Peña is taking over the role previously held by Stanley Tucci, who had to exit the project due to government-imposed travel restrictions banning UK flights into Canada.

Peña will play Tom Lopez, a wealthy car dealer who is married to Brian Harper’s (Wilson) ex-wife, the loving and fierce Brenda, played by Carolina Bartczak.

Emmerich, Harald Kloser, and Spenser Cohen penned the screenplay.

Centropolis is overseeing all aspects of production, financing, delivery, and distribution and marketing in collaboration with Lionsgate, AGC Studios, and other distribution partners. Lionsgate is distributing the film in North America.

Moonfall is set to hit theaters in 2022.

Peña will soon be seen starring in the Warner Bros. live-action/animation hybrid Tom & Jerry, slated to debut on HBO Max and in theaters on February 26.

HBO Max to Release the Guillermo del Toro-Co-Penned Film “Roald Dahl’s The Witches” This Month

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro is 100% that witch (writer)…

Warner Bros. has announced that its adaptation of the beloved 1973 children’s book Roald Dahl’s The Witches, co-written by the 55-year-old Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker, will premiere on October 22, exclusively on HBO Max.

The film, which stars Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, was originally scheduled to hit theaters this month but was later postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis reimagines the tale of a young boy who stumbles upon a secret coven of witches and, with the help of his loving grandmother, must try to foil their evil plan to turn all the world’s children into mice.

Hathaway portrays the sly, menacing Grand High Witch, while Spencer is the tough but tender grandma who will fight her to the end. The film also features Stanley Tucci as the hotel manager who unwittingly hosts the witches’ convention, Kristin Chenoweth in an undisclosed role, and Jahzir Bruno as the heart of the story as the young boy (voiced by Chris Rock as an adult), who becomes the hero striving to stop the witches.

In addition to directing, Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Kenya Barris and del Toro.

The Witches was previously adapted for the screen in 1990 with Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, a version Dahl disavowed because it changed the book’s ending. Zemeckis’ film will reportedly be a more faithful adaptation.

Molina to Star in the Judy Wood Biopic “Saint Judy”

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Alfred Molina has found a saintly project…

The 63-year-old half-Spanish actor has signed on to star in Saint Judy, the biopic about Los Angeles immigration attorney Judy Wood who argued a landmark case that changed the asylum laws for women coming into the U.S.

Sean Hanish is directing, and the project is set to go before the cameras on May 10.

The story follows Wood, a single mother in her mid-30s who moved to Los Angeles and committed herself to immigration law, particularly asylum cases. She entered into law after having a vision about it. She would end up representing an Afghani immigrant woman who had been persecuted for opening up a school for girls in her home country.

Wood fought a tenacious battle in and out of court against established law, and the case ended up before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The result of many years of fighting for the schoolteacher resulted in Wood single-handedly changing the law of asylum nationwide, allowing women to be designated a protected class. She not only saved the life of her client but thousands of other female refugees who would have been sent back to their home countries where they faced certain death.

Helmer Hanish and Cannonball Productions’ Jaconi-Biery are producing Saint Judy with Molina, who was also in their last production Sister Cities.

Molina is currently starring in a great showcase role as director Robert Aldrich on FX’s ratings giant Feud: Bette and Joan. He plays opposite Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis, Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford, Judy Davis as Hedda Hopper and Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner for series creator Ryan Murphy.

Cabrera to Star in Michael Bay’s “Transformers: The Last Knight”

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Santiago Cabrera is ready to transform his career…

The 38-year-old Venezuelan-born Chilean actor is starring in Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment in the Transformers franchise.

Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and Stanley Tucci are set to reprise their roles as Cade Yaeger, William Lennox, Robert Epps and Joshua Joyce respectively in the action flick.

Other cast members include Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, John Turturro and John Goodman.

Written by Art Marcum, Matt Halloway and Ken Nolan, the movie follows Optimus Prime who finds his home planet, Cybertron, now a dead planet. Thinking that he’s responsible for its demise, he finds a way to bring the planet back to life. However, in order to do so he needs to find an artifact on Earth.

Cabrera’s previous credits include appearances on The Mindy Project, Covert Affairs, Merlin, Dexter, The Musketeers and Heroes.

Transformers: The Last Knight is coming to U.S. theaters on June 23, 2017.

de la Huerta to Star in Modern-Day Film Adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Paz de la Huerta is living the Dream…

The 31-year-old half-Spanish American actress will star in a modern-day film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, according to Variety.

de la Huerta will star alongside Rachel Leigh Cook, Hamish Linklater, Avan Jogia, Fran Kranz, Charity Wakefield, Lily Rabe, Ted Levine and Finn Whitrock in the film, which completed production on Dec. 18.

Producers announced the project Saturday to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

The new version takes place in present-day Hollywood where fantasy and reality collide. It’s set in a world where glamorous stars, commanding moguls, starving artists and vaulting pretenders all vie to get ahead.

Casey Wilder Mott wrote and directed the feature, marking his directorial debut.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream will feature original music by Mia Doi Todd and Saul Williams, both of whom also appear in the film.

de la Huerta starred in Boardwalk Empire for two seasons. Her other credits include The Cider House Rules, Riding in Cars with Boys and A Walk to Remember.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been adapted into movies numerous times, most recently in the 1999 Fox Searchlight film, which included Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart and Christian Bale.

Aguilera Records “We Remain” for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Soundtrack

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Christina Aguilera’s musical career us catching fire…

The 32-year-old half-Ecuadorian singer and The Voice coach will appear on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack.

Aguilera’s track, titled “We Remain,” joins the previously released piano ballad “Atlas,” written and performed by Coldplay, as well as The National‘s “Lean.”

Aguilera made the announcement via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, telling her more than 9.4 million followers the news: “Love the underlying message of @TheHungerGames. ‘We Remain’ is special new song, its message to my fans & how I connect w/ the movie, alike.”

Aguilera’s last album was 2012’s Lotus and she has been a featured artist on several songs, including Pitbull‘s “Feel This Moment,” released earlier this year.

After taking the fourth cycle of The Voice off, the singer returned to NBC‘s hit singing competition series on September 23.

In Catching Fire, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) adjust to life as Hunger Games victors, until they are thrown back into the arena for the 75th annual Games — the Quarter Quell.

Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson reprise their roles in the second film of the franchise.

Catching Fire hits theaters November 22.

A release date for the accompanying soundtrack, to be distributed by Lionsgate and Republic Records, has not been announced yet.

Jason Statham’s “Heat” Reboot with Vergara Earning International Sales

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Sofia Vergara’s latest film is packin’ serious heat…

The Simon West-directed Heat reboot, which stars Jason Statham and the 40-year-old Colombian actress, has been selling quite well for Sierra/Affinity Films.

The remake of the 1986 film of the same name starring Burt Reynolds was penned by William Goldman. Currently in-production, Heat is expected to be released in 2014.

Since introducing the action film in Berlin and a day into the Cannes Market, Sierra/Affinity’s film has more than 20 territories finalized including the UK (Lionsgate), Germany, Latin America, South Africa and Turkey.

Along with Statham and Vergara, the film also stars Michael Angarano, Stanley Tucci, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Hope Davis, Jason Alexander, Max Casella and Anne Heche.

First Look: Diaz’s Co-Starring Role in “Gambit”

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Cameron Diaz is running the gambit with an Oscar-winning actor…

The 40-year-old half-Cuban American actress is starring as a cowgirl opposite Colin Firth in the comedy Gambit, which saw the release this week of the film’s first trailer on the United Kingdom’s ITV.

Gambit sees Firth playing a long-suffering employee who grows tired of being intimidated by his eccentric boss, played by Harry Potter’s Alan Rickman, and decides to seek revenge.

It’s a remake of the 1966 movie of the same name; it follows Firth’s character Harry Dean who plans to steal a statue from one of the world’s richest men. His master plan, however, is missing one major component: the involvement of a beautiful woman to act as his gambit.

Dean then meets PJ Puznowski (Diaz), someone who appears to be the perfect candidate. But Dean himself becomes enraptured with her, causing his plan to take a series of wrong turns.

Directed by Michael Hoffman, Gambit—which co-stars Tom Courtenay, Stanley Tucci and Cloris Leachman—doesn’t have a U.S. release date in the U.S. yet.

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