Netflix Acquires Worldwide Right to Benicio Del Toro’s “Reptile”

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio Del Toro will be shedding new skin online…

Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to Black Label Media’s Reptile, starring the 54-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar winner (Sicario, Traffic).

Del Toro will star opposite Justin Timberlake (Palmer, The Social Network) in the project.

The film picks up following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, following a hardened detective (Del Toro) as he attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems. In doing so, he finds himself dismantling the illusions in his own life.

Prolific music video director Grant Singer is helming the film in his feature directorial debut. He wrote the script with Benjamin Brewer.

Del Toro won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the jaded but morally upright police officer Javier Rodriguez in the film Traffic.

Bacardi Family’s Trials & Tribulations in 1950s Cuba Getting the Television Treatment

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

The life story of Facundo Bacardí Massó and his family is heading to the small screen…

MiLu Entertainment and Ian Reichbach are developing a television series based on the Bacardi family’s experiences in 1950s Cuba.

Reichbach is adapting NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten’s well-received book Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, which fuses the story of the Bacardi family’s famous rum business with Cuba’s tumultuous experience over the last 150 years, including Cuba’s fight for freedom, its tortured relationship with America, and the rise of Fidel Castro.

Andre L III of MiLu Entertainment is producing the bilingual English-Spanish series with 6GEN Films, which consists of Bacardi family members Mari Aixalá, Pepin R. Argamasilla and Juan Bergaz Pessino of Bergaz Productions.

“It’s time to tell the untold story of the Bacardi family,” said Andre L III of MiLu. “Authenticity and passion are the key to great storytelling and it has been a privilege to collaborate with the foremost authorities on the history of the most iconic Cuban family.”

Reichbach is a regular collaborator with Aaron Sorkin, having served as a writer and executive story editor on The Newsroom, and a researcher on movies including Charlie Wilson’s War, Moneyball, The Social Network and The Trial Of The Chicago 7.

MiLu Entertainment’s slate includes features The Thicket, which has Noomi Rapace, Peter Dinklage, Sophia Lillis and Charlie Plummer attached.

Javier Bardem In Talks to Portray Desi Arnaz in Amazon & Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos”

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Javier Bardem may soon be saying, “Lucy, I’m Home!”

The 51-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor is in talks to play Desi Arnaz opposite Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in Amazon and Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos.

The film centers on the relationship between the I Love Lucy stars. Having penned the screenplay, Academy Award winner Sorkin also will direct the film from Amazon Studios and Escape Artists.

The film is set during one production week of I Love Lucy — Monday table read through Friday audience filming— when Lucy and Desi face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.

Sorkin originally was going to pen the script only, when Cate Blanchett was circling, but after enjoying himself on the drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, he decided to attach himself as a director as well over the summer.

After The Trial of the Chicago 7 bowed on Netflix in October, Being the Ricardos began to gain momentum with Kidman and Bardem quickly interested in the couple behind television’s first family. Deals still need to close for both actors, but even if and when they do, when production will start is still up in the air as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to push productions throughout the country.

After years as one of Hollywood’s most prolific screenwriters with such classics as A Few Good Men, Moneyball and his Oscar-winning The Social Network, Sorkin has found himself more and more behind the camera as well. His directing debut was the drama Molly’s Game starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, and he followed that up with The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Bardem most recently starred in The Roads Not Taken and can next be seen in Legendary’s Dune. He also is set to play King Triton in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.

Garcia to Guest Star on Fox’s “The Mindy Project”

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

JoAnna Garcia Swisher is heading to the Mindy city…

The 34-year-old half-Cuban actress has been cast in the Fox comedy The Mindy Project in a potentially recurring role, according to TVLine.

Swisher will portray the sister of Dr. Peter (Adam Pally).

She’s slated to appear for one episode at the moment, but she could be back for a second.

Fans of the show are also set to meet Dr. Danny’s brother, Richie, played by The Social Network‘s Max Minghella, this season.

Swisher, who is best known for her roles on Reba, Privileged, Gossip Girl and Royal Pains, most recently guest-starred on ABC’s Once Upon a Time.

The Mindy Project airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.