Jacob Vargas to Appear on Disney+’s TV Series “National Treasure”

Jacob Vargas is treasuring his latest gig…

The 50-year-old Mexican-American actor and performer has landed a heavily recurring role in National Treasure, Disney Branded Television’s television series for Disney+ produced by ABC Signature.

Jacob VargasExecutive produced by the films’ producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, the project is an expansion of the National Treasure film franchise told from the point of view of young heroine Jess (Lisette Olivera), a DREAMer in search of answers about her family who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about the past and save a lost Pan-American treasure.

The series, whose pilot episode is written by the Wibberleys and will be directed by Mira Nair, centers on Jess, a Latina whose brilliant and resourceful mind loves a good mystery, and she has a natural talent for solving puzzles. Over the course of the show, Jess will uncover her own buried history, as well as the truth about her parents and her connection to a long-lost treasure.

Vargas plays Rafael a rugged, treasure-obsessed, adventurous soul with a good sense of humor.

Vargas recently portrayed Tony Ochoa on Mr. Iglesias for Netflix. He also recurred on Mayans M.C. and appeared on Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy.

On the film side, he most recently was seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi. His other film credits include Princess of the Row, The 33 and Diego Luna’s biopic Cesar Chavez.

Jacob Vargas to Star in Steven Soderbergh’s Next Film “KIMI”

Jacob Vargas has lined up his next big role…

The 49-year-old Mexican actor has joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s next film, the New Line Max Original feature KIMIwith Zoë Kravitz on board to star.

Jacob Vargas

Byron Bowers and Jaime Camil are also on board.

The film will premiere exclusively on HBO Max. David Koepp penned the script and will produce with Michael Polaire.

Plot details are being kept under wraps.

The film would mark the second collaboration between Warner Bros Pictures Group, HBO Max and Soderbergh since the recent restructuring of the studio, and the third between Soderbergh and HBO Max. It follows No Sudden Move, the upcoming starry Max Original ensemble crime thriller from Warner Bros. Pictures that features Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Brendan Fraser, Noah Jupe, Bill Duke, Frankie Shaw and Julia Fox.

Soderbergh’s most recent pic, Let Them All Talk, with Meryl Streep, premiered on HBO Max in December.

Vargas and Soderbergh’s partnership goes all the way back to Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning drug trafficking film Trafficwhere Vargas played del Toro’s partner Manolo. Vargas would later appear in Soderbergh’s HBO series Mosaic

He currently stars in the Netflix series Mr. Iglesias and was previously on the series Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy. Recent film credits include Mark Carlson’s Princess of the Row opposite Martin Sheen and Ana OrtizThe 33 as Edison “Elvis” Peña, one of the 33 Chilean miners that was trapped for 69 days, and Diego Luna’s biopic Cesar Chavez as Richard Chavez opposite Michael Peña.

 

Kate del Castillo to Star in the Off Broadway Production of Isaac Gomez’s “the way she spoke”

Kate del Castillois ready to take the stage…

The 46-year-old Mexican actress, who starred in Telemundo’s wildly popular La Reina del Sur series, will return to the New York stage this summer in the Off Broadway production of Isaac Gomez’s the way she spoke, directed by Jo Bonney as the next Audible Theater production at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

Kate del Castillo

Previews begin on Monday, July 8, with opening night set for Thursday, July 18. The Minetta Lane, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, is home base for Audible’s live performances, with productions recorded and released by Audible as audio plays.

the way she spoke follows an actress who enters a theater, picks up a script, and begins to read a story that reveals “disturbing and haunting accounts of the murder of thousands of women in Juarez, Mexico and one playwright’s journey of discovery and responsibility.” 

According to Audible’s description, “As lines blur between theatricality and reality, intense and provocative questions are raised and demand deeper examination. Based on a series of intimate interviews, this one-woman play demonstrates the power of speaking truth, even as it considers the implications of doing so.”

Kate Navin, Audible Artistic Producer, called Gomez’s play “deeply moving,” and that del Castillo’s “raw and inspiring performance is sure to captivate our live audiences in New York City and resonate with Audible members everywhere.”

The creative team includes Riccardo Hernandez (scenic design), Emilio Sosa (costume design), Lap Chi Chu(lighting design), Elisheba Ittoop(sound design), and Aaron Rhyne(projection design).

del Castillo, set to co-star with Will Smithand Martin Lawrencein 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, has been a popular star of Mexican television since her teens, but her performance on La Reina del Sur in 2011 became a cultural phenomenon. A second season launched last month. The series, produced by Telemundo and Spain’s Antena 3, is a primetime serial that chronicles del Castillo’s Teresa character, a Mexican woman who rises to great power through international drug trafficking (Alice Bragaplays the character in USA Networks’ American version Queen of the South).

del Castillo’s other credits include Jane The VirginUnder the Same MoonThe 33All About Nina, and the upcoming Bad Boys For Life.

Off-screen, del Castillo made international news when, after controversially tweeting about El Chapoin 2012, the actress was contacted by a lawyer for the Mexican drug lord to discuss a biopic about him (El Chapo, it turned out, was a del Castillo superfan, with a stockpile of La Reina del Sur DVDs found at the safe house raided by Mexican intelligence agencyCISEN.) Later, del Castillo helped arrange the meeting between El Chapo and actor Sean Penn.

Banderas to Star in “Black Butterfly”

Antonio Banderas is ready to flutter into theaters..

The 55-year-old Spanish actor will star in Brian Goodman’s sophomore film Black Butterfly alongside Piper Perabo and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Antonio Banderas

A remake of the French thriller Papillon Noir by Herve Korian, the script for the film was penned by Justin Stanley and Steve Hilts.

Banderas will portray Paul, a screenwriter with a bad case of writer’s block who befriends a grifter named Jack (Rhys Meyers). Perabo (Covert Affairs) is attached to play Laura, a real estate agent and love interest of Paul. After Paul invites Jack to stay with him in return for doing small tasks, the tables turn and Jack holds him hostage, forcing him to write a script. When Laura checks in on Paul, he takes her hostage as well. It soon becomes apparent that Jack may be a dreaded serial killer of young women that local police have been trying to track down.

Principal photography began shooting this month in the Monti Simbruini region of Italy, a favorite locale of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns. Production will continue in May in studios in Rome.

Banderas most recently starred in The 33 and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Raba to Star in History Channel’s Military Action Drama Series “Six”

Juan Pablo Raba has six reasons to celebrate…

The 38-year-old Colombian actor has signed on for the History Channel’s military action drama series Six.

Juan Pablo Raba

Written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Vietnam War veteran William Broyles and his son David Broyles, a military special operations veteran, Six follows a Navy SEAL Team Six, whose 2014 mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a U.S. citizen working with the terrorists.

Raba will play Ricky “Buddha” Ortiz, one of the veterans on SEAL Team Six.

Raba is currently shooting the feature 7 Years in Madrid, Spain. He recently was seen in Narcoand The 33 and next appears in the indie drama Shot Caller.

Fox to Begin Rolling Out Banderas’ “The 33” in Latin American in August

The anticipation is building for Antonio Banderas’ latest film The 33 in Latin America, especially in Chile and Colombia, where the picture was filmed.

In addition to Banderas, the survival drama also stars Gabriel Byrne, Rodrigo Santoro and Juliette Binoche.

Antonio Banderas in The 33

Fox will roll out the film, which was directed by Mexico’s Patricia Riggen, across Latin America starting August 6 in Chile, after a red-carpet premiere on August 2. The premiere is expected to lure a constellation of local talent and officials, the miners as well as the film’s multinational cast and crew.

Alcon Entertainment, which snapped up the film’s distribution rights in North America and most other territories in the world, will release it through Warner Bros. in the U.S. on November 13.

The drama is based on the real events of the 2010 Chilean mining disaster in which 33 miners were trapped underground for months. A multinational effort to rescue the miners gripped a global TV audience for weeks.

Trailer views in Chile alone have numbered 6.6 million, according to 20th Century Fox Chile managing director Hernan Viviano. This is quite a significant tally given Chile’s population of 17 million, he says.

The film debuts August 20 in Colombia, along with the rest of Central America. The rollout continues across the region until October 29 in Brazil.

While most of the cave interior scenes were shot in Colombia, exterior scenes were filmed outside the actual Copiapo mine that fell in.

Riggen to Direct the Faith-Based Drama “Miracles From Heaven”

It’s special miracle for Patricia Riggen

The 44-year-old Mexican film director has sealed a deal to direct Sony Pictures’ faith-based drama Miracles From Heaven. 

Patricia Riggen

Riggen’s project is an adaptation of Miracles From Heaven: A Sick Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and the Lives Forever Changed, the book by Christy Beam that will go on sale April 14.

Beam’s memoir centers on her daughter, who miraculously overcame an incurable, life-threatening digestive disorder. After she was dramatically rescued from a near-death experience, a stunning series of miracles unfolded that left her family, her medical doctors and community baffled. Beam lived in Texas when the incidents occurred, and her family belongs to the Alsbury Baptist Church.

Randy Brown, who wrote Clint Eastwood‘s Trouble With the Curve, penned the script.

The studio is expected to release the film in spring 2016 through its TriStar Pictures releasing label, the same label that released the faith-based hit Heaven Is for Real.

Riggen directed the critically acclaimed film Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna), as well as the Disney Channel movie Lemonade Mouth.

She most recently helmed the upcoming film The 33, which tells of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 69 days and is based on the book Deep Down Dark written by Hector Tobar.

International Trailer Released for Banderas’ Chilean Miner Drama “The 33”

It’s mine over matter for Antonio Banderas in his latest film…

The international trailer has been released for The 33, starring the 54-year-old Spanish actor.

Antonio Banderas in The 33

Directed by Patricia Riggen, the film tells the story of the 2010 Chilean miner drama.

And the just-released trailer includes some haunting images.

Similar to how Oliver Stone took audiences inside the Twin Towers during 9/11 in World Trade Center, Riggen thrusts us in the midst of the miners’ devastating circumstances, displaying the earth falling upon them in the Copiapo, Chile caves.

The miners spent more than two months awaiting rescue as the world watched and numerous countries sent help. The U.S. sent a NASA team and an American driller.

Banderas stars as Mario Sepulveda, a miner who becomes trapped on the last day before his retirement. The film also stars Lou Diamond Phillips, Juliette Binoche, Gabriel Byrne and Rodrigo Santoro.

Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten and Michael Thomas adapted the screenplay from Hector Tobar’s book.

A U.S. release date has not been set yet.

Barraza to Star in USA Network’s Drama Pilot “Queen Of The South”

Adriana Barraza’s heading south for the upcoming television season…

The 58-year-old Mexican actress, an Oscar nominee for her performance in Babel, has landed a starring role in USA Network’s drama pilot Queen Of The South.

Adriana Barraza

The project, an English-language adaptation of Telemundo’s blockbuster 2011 telenovela La Reina del Sur, is based on the best-selling book by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

Queen Of The South centers on Teresa Mendoza (portrayed by Alice Braga), who’s forced to go on the run when her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico.

Barraza will play Camilla, the lioness ex-wife of a powerful drug lord who is establishing her own empire in America.

She quickly becomes a mother figure to Teresa (Braga), but their relationship escalates into a battle of wills that will leave more than a few bodies in its wake.

Barraza most recently appeared in Guillermo del Toro’s FX series The Strain and the feature Cake. Her 0ther film credits include Amores Perros, Thor, Drag Me To Hell and The 33.

The Queen of the South cast includes Justina Machado and Hemky Madera.

Santoro to Star in the Indie Drama “Dominion”

Rodrigo Santoro is ready to establish a little dominion of his own…

The 38-year-old Brazilian actor has signed on to star in the indie drama Dominion.

Rodrigo Santoro

The film, which also stars John Malkovich and Rhys Ifans, is based on the last day of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’ short life at the White Horse Tavern in New York. Thomas died at the age of 39 of pneumonia but was a voracious drinker.

The film is being shot in black and white by Steven Bernstein, the cinematographer on Monsterand Like Water for Chocolate, from his own script.

Santoro, who reprised his role as Xerxes in this year’s 300: Rise of an Empire and was the voice of Tulio in Rio 2, will portray the bartender at the White Horse, a pivotal role as a character who continues to communicate with Thomas throughout the film. Diego Luna was previously linked to the role.

The tavern, which opened in 1880, became a well-known Bohemian hangout in New York in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and is still a going concern on Hudson and 11th St.

“It’s not a biopic at all, but rather a testament to the man and his legacy,” says producer Richard Gladstein.

Santoro will next star alongside Will Smith and Margot Robbie in the heist movie Focus and just wrapped The 33, the film about the Chilean miners.