Penélope Cruz to Receive Variety’s Creative Impact in Acting Award

Penélope Cruz is making a creative impact

Variety will honor the 49-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress, who is currently earning praise for her performance in Ferrari, with the Creative Impact in Acting Award at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Penelope CruzThe award will be presented as part of Variety’s annual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch on January 5 at the Parker Palm Springs.

Cruz will be recognized for her accomplished career as a four-time Oscar nominee known for her daring, multidimensional and unforgettable performances in Volver, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Nine and Parallel Mothers.

Her latest film, Ferrari, was directed by Michael Mann and stars Adam Driver as the iconic race car driver and entrepreneur. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and comes out in theaters on December 25.

It was named to National Board of Review’s list of the year’s top 10 films and earned Cruz a Gotham Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance.

“More than 30 years after her stunning film debut in Bigas Lunas’ Venice Festival prize winner, Jamón Jamón, Penelope Cruz continues startling global film audiences with her limitless versatility in films created by the world’s finest directors,” said Variety’s Executive Vice President Content, Steven Gaydos. “Her long association with Pedro Almodóvar has won her major accolades, and she took home the Oscar for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She’s now at the peak of her powers in Michael Mann’s masterpiece, Ferrari. It’s Variety‘s great honor to present our Creative Impact in Acting to Penelope Cruz, for both her illustrious career and for her powerful performance as the unforgettable woman at the heart of Ferrari.’

Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos and Killers of the Flower Moon co-writer Eric Roth are also set to receive honors at the January 5 event. Variety  will announce its 10 Directors to Watch on January 3.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs January 4 to 15. For additional information visit http://www.psfilmfest.org.

Penélope Cruz to Star in Michael Mann’s Enzo Ferrari Biopic “Ferrari”

Penélope Cruz is revving her engines for a new role…

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress, who earned an Academy Award nod this week, will star in director Michael Mann’s passion project Ferrari.

Penelope CruzCruz is among a roster of All-Star cast members that includes Adam Driver and Shailene Woodley for the big-budget biopic of racing mogul Enzo Ferrari.

Driver is replacing Hugh Jackman in the title role while Parallel Mothers star Cruz will play Enzo’s wife Laura.  Woodley will play mistress Lina Lardi.

Four-time Oscar nominee Mann is gearing up for a May start in Italy.

STX is handling international rights and has now picked up the domestic rights in a big deal with Mann. Amazon is aboard in a handful of international markets. STX International will look to close remaining deals this week with some big international pacts already secured, including Leone in Italy.

The movie, which Mann has been working on for two decades, is set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver, Ferrari, is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgement of another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on one race – 1,000 miles across Italy, the iconic Mille Miglia.

The project has famously been through multiple iterations, but this is as far along as the casting has been at any stage.

Mann will direct from a script by Troy Kennedy and Mann based on Brock Yates’ book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine.

“Being able to have these wonderfully talented artists, actors Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley, bring to life these unique characters on location in Modena and the Emilia-Romagna is a vision fulfilled,” says Mann.

Ferrari is so much more than a story about a man and his machine,” says Adam Fogelson, Chairman of STXfilms Motion Picture. “It is an extraordinary and emotional story that Michael has been developing for years and the entire team at STX is looking forward to the start of production with this dream cast and filmmaker. Adam Driver is one of the most talented and fascinating actors working today, and we could not be more thrilled to pair him with Penélope, whose legendary career builds with every role she takes.”

Cruz, nominated this week for the Best Actress Oscar in Parallel Mothers, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and was nominated another two times for her roles in Volver and Nine. In addition to Parallel Mothers for Sony, she currently stars in IFC’s Official Competition opposite Antonio Banderas.

Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem Make Oscar History with their Academy Award Nominations

It’s a joint celebration for Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress and her 52-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor husband have each earned an Academy Award nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 94th Oscars.

In the process Cruz and Bardem have become the sixth married couple to be nominated in acting categories in the same year at the Oscars.

Penelope Cruz & Javier BardemBardem is nominated for best actor for his role as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, while Cruz earned a nomination for her role as Janis in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers.

It’s Cruz’s second nomination for a Spanish-speaking role, and her second nod for her work in an Almodovar film. She previously earned a Best Actress nomination in 2007 for Volver.

She took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Bardem previous won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for No Country for Old Men.

Ariana DeBose has earned her first Oscar nomination…

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer and recent Golden Globe winner is the looming favorite in the Best Supporting Actress category after earning the nod for her scene-stealing work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Guillermo del Toro has earned a nod in the Best Picture category for producing Nightmare Alley, a neo-noir psychological thriller that the Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker also directed and co-wrote.

Carlos López Estrada has earned his first Oscar nomination.

The Mexican filmmaker is nominated in the Animated Feature Film category for co-directing Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon.

Germaine Franco will compete against Alberto Iglesias in the Music (Original Score) category.

The Latina film composer, the first woman to score a Disney animated feature film, is nominated for her work on Encanto; the 66-year-old Spanish composter is nominated for his work on Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is one step closer to an EGOT

The Puerto Rican Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winner is nominated in the Music (Original Song) category for “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.

Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz (Bestia) will face off against Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez (The Windshield Wiper) in the Animated Short Film category.

The Oscars will be awarded on Sunday, March 27 from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Picture

Belfast
Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers

CODA
Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers

Don’t Look Up
Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Drive My Car
Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer

Dune
Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers

King Richard
Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers

Licorice Pizza
Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

Nightmare Alley
Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers

The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers

West Side Story
Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem
Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch
The Power of the Dog

Andrew Garfield
tick, tick…Boom!

Will Smith
King Richard

Denzel Washington
The Tragedy of Macbeth

Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain
The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman
The Lost Daughter

Penélope Cruz
Parallel Mothers

Nicole Kidman
Being the Ricardos

Kristen Stewart
Spencer

Actor in a Supporting Role

Ciarán Hinds
Belfast

Troy Kotsur
CODA

Jesse Plemons
The Power of the Dog

J.K. Simmons
Being the Ricardos

Kodi Smit-McPhee
The Power of the Dog

Actress in a Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley
The Lost Daughter

Ariana DeBose
West Side Story

Judi Dench
Belfast

Kirsten Dunst
The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis
King Richard

Directing

Belfast
Kenneth Branagh

Drive My Car
Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Licorice Pizza
Paul Thomas Anderson

The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion

West Side Story
Steven Spielberg

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

CODA
Screenplay by Siân Heder

Drive My Car
Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

Dune
Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth

The Lost Daughter
Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal

The Power of the Dog
Written by Jane Campion

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Belfast
Written by Kenneth Branagh

Don’t Look Up
Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota

King Richard
Written by Zach Baylin

Licorice Pizza
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Worst Person in the World
Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Documentary Feature

Ascension
Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

Attica
Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry

Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

Writing with Fire
Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Animated Feature Film

Encanto
Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Luca
Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren

The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht

Raya and the Last Dragon
Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan)
A C&I Entertainment/Culture Entertainment/Bitters End Production

Flee (Denmark)
A Final Cut for Real/Sun Creature/Vivement Lundi !/MostFilm/Mer Film/VICE/Left HandFilms Production

The Hand of God (Italy)
A The Apartment Production

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
A Dangphu Dingphu: a 3 pigs Production

The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
An Oslo Pictures/MK Productions/Film iVäst/Snowglobe/B-Reel/Arte France Cinéma Production

Cinematography

Dune
Greig Fraser

Nightmare Alley
Dan Laustsen

The Power of the Dog
Ari Wegner

The Tragedy of Macbeth
Bruno Delbonnel

West Side Story
Janusz Kaminski

Film Editing

Don’t Look Up
Hank Corwin

Dune
Joe Walker

King Richard
Pamela Martin

The Power of the Dog
Peter Sciberras

Tick, Tick…Boom!
Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Live Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger

The Dress
Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki

The Long Goodbye
Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

On My Mind
Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

Please Hold
K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art
Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

Bestia
Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz

Boxballet
Anton Dyakov

Robin Robin
Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

The Windshield Wiper
Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Documentary Short Subject

Audible
Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean

Lead Me Home
Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

The Queen of Basketball
Ben Proudfoot

Three Songs for Benazir
Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

When We Were Bullies
Jay Rosenblatt

Music (Original Score)

Don’t Look Up
Nicholas Britell

Dune
Hans Zimmer

Encanto
Germaine Franco

Parallel Mothers
Alberto Iglesias

The Power of the Dog
Jonny Greenwood

Music (Original Song)

“Be Alive” from King Richard
Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

“Down To Joy” from Belfast
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison

“No Time To Die” from No Time to Die
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Production Design

Dune
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos

Nightmare Alley
Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

The Power of the Dog
Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards

The Tragedy of Macbeth
Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

West Side Story
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Costume Design

Cruella
Jenny Beavan

Cyrano
Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran

Dune
Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan

Nightmare Alley
Luis Sequeira

West Side Story
Paul Tazewell

Makeup and Hairstyling

Coming 2 America
Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer

Cruella
Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon

Dune
Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh

House of Gucci
Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Sound

Belfast
Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri

Dune
Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett

No Time to Die
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor

The Power of the Dog
Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb

West Side Story
Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Visual Effects

Dune
Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer

Free Guy
Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick

No Time to Die
Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver

Spider-Man: No Way Home
Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Juanes Returns to Rocker Roots with New Album “Origen”

Juanes is sharing his origenes story…

The 48-year-old Colombian musician has returned to his rocker roots with the new album Origen.

Juanes

Beginning with a fast-paced rock ‘n’ roll version of Joe Arroyo’s “Rebelión,” Origen pays homage to the songs that shaped Juanes’ life and career.

 

The set, produced by Juanes with Sebastian Krys and featuring no loops or samples, is a refreshing sonic journey that includes iconic tracks like Carlos Gardel’s “Volver” –reimagined as a bachata/tango—and unexpected gems like “Todo Hombre Es Una Historia,” originally recorded by Medellín rock band Kraken.

There are also English-language covers: Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark,” which morphed into a soft rock ballad, and “Could You Be Loved,” now a syncopated vamp set over a medley of guitars.

Juanes has said that after experimenting with urban beats in his past two albums, Origen is his return to his true self.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Rights to Penelope Cruz-Starrer “Madres Paralelas” from Pedro Almodovar

Penelope Cruz’s latest film is going global…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in North America, Australia and New Zealand to Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas), starring the 46-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress.

Penelope Cruz

It’s the 13th collaboration between the distributor and director/producer Pedro Almodóvar’s production company El Deseo.

Production began in Madrid last month on the film, which reunites the Spanish filmmaker with longtime collaborators Cruz, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma.

Parallel Mothers is a drama that centers on three mothers, portrayed by Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and Milena Smit.

The film expands Almodóvar’s previous depictions of womanhood by turning his focus on imperfect mothers, in a departure from his prior work exploring mothers and motherhood.

Written by Almodóvar, the film also stars Israel Elejalde.

The film is produced by Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García through El Deseo.

Sony Pictures Classics recently released Almodóvar’s short film The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton, in theaters alongside a digitally restored re-issue of Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It will be available to stream on HBO Max starting on April 30.

Almodóvar won two Oscars for best foreign language film for All About My Mother and original screenplay for his 2002 title Talk to Her (Hable con Ella).

Cruz has starred in several of Almodovar’s films, including All About My Mother, I’m So Excited!, Volver, Broken Embraces, and Pain and Glory.

Pedro Almodovar to Begin Filming Latest Project “Parallel Mothers” Next Month

Pedro Almodovar is thisclose to starting work on his next film…

The 71-year-old Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker is preparing to head into production on his next movie Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas).

Pedro Almodovar

The film will star Penelope Cruz alongside the newly-announced Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Israel Elejalde and Milena Smit.

The film is scheduled to begin filming by the end of March in Spain. Almodovar’s El Deseo is producing.

Almodovar said of the project:

“With Parallel Mothers I return to the female universe, to motherhood, to family. I speak of the importance of ancestors and descendants. The inevitable presence of memory. There are many mothers in my filmography, the ones that are part of this story are very different.

“As a storyteller, imperfect mothers inspire me most at this time. Penélope Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and the young Milena Smit will play the three mothers in the film, accompanied by Israel Elejalde in the main male character. I also have the collaboration of my beloved Julieta Serrano and Rossy de PalmaParallel Mothers will be an intense drama. Or so I hope.”

This will be Cruz’s seventh film with Almodovar. She first appeared in Live Flesh in 1997. Her other Almodovar credits include All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, I’m So Excited and Pain and Glory.

Sánchez-Gijón’s previous credits include A Walk in the Clouds and The Machinist.

Almodóvar to Serve as Jury President at This Year’s Cannes Film Festival

Pedro Almodóvar is taking a special role at this year’s Cannes Film Festival

The 67-year-old Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer has been named the next President of the Jury for the 70th edition of the festival in May.

Pedro Almodovar

“I am very happy to be able to celebrate Cannes Film Festival[‘s] 70th anniversary from such a privileged position,” said Almodóvar in a statement. “I am grateful, honoured and bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.”

Almodóvar has a film career that spans across 35 years and his 20 films range from From Pepi, Luci, Born to La Mancha to last year’s Julieta

He’s worked with a range of actors including Penélope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Antonio Banderas, Rossy de Palma, Javier Bardem, Javier Cámara, Carmen Maura and Victoria Abril.

Five of his films – All About My Mother, Volver, Broken EmbracesThe Skin I Live In and Julieta – have been selected In Competition in Cannes. Bad Education opened the fest in 2004 while the director himself featured on the poster of the 60th festival.

“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist,” said the President of the Festival, Pierre Lescure and Delegate-General Thierry Frémaux. “A long and loyal friendship binds Pedor Almodóvar to the festival, where he was member of the jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”

The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28.

Il Divo Earns First No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums Chart

Carlos Marin has his first No. 1 on the Latin charts…

The 47-year-old Spanish baritone and his fellow members of the classical crossover quartet Il Divo have earned their first showing on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart as Amor & Pasion debutsat the top of the chart (dated Dec. 5), selling 5,000 copies in the week ending Nov. 19, according to Nielsen Music.

Il Divo

The 12-track Spanish-language set strays from the majority of Il Divo’s albums, which are performed predominantly in Italian and English.

Over on the Top Classical Albums chart, Amor & Pasion enters at No. 5 — the group’s 10th top 10. Overall, Il Divo has seven No. 1s on the list with its debut self-titled album spending 29 weeks at the top in 2005.

Amor & Pasion includes classical versions of some well-known Latin tracks including “Don’t Wanna​ Lose You,” originally written and performed by Gloria Estefan. The group also interprets Julio Iglesias’ “Abrazame,” his 1975 hit from the album El Amor. Versions of Consuelo Velazquez’s “Besame Mucho” and Carlos Gardel’s “Volver” also form part of the track list.

Almodóvar to Receive the WGA West’s Jean Renoir Award

Pedro Almodóvar is the write man on top…

The 65-year-old Spanish filmmaker, who earned France’s Prix Lumiere in October for his lifetime of filmmaking achievements, will be feted as this year’s recipient of the Writers Guild of America West’s Jean Renoir Award, which celebrates an international writer who has advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of screenwriting.

Pedro Almodovar

Almodóvar has written, directed, and produced more than 20 feature films over the last three decades and won the Original Screenplay Academy Award for 2002’s Talk To Her, for which he also received an Oscar nod for best director.

His other films include Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, Volver, Bad Education, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, High Heels, Kika, The Flower Of My Secret, Live Flesh and All About My Mother.

His most recent film was the 2013 comedy I’m So Excited, and he’s currently prepping his next film, Silencio.

“Almodóvar – the first name is almost unnecessary – is a genius, is a flower, is a guiding light: the last, best son of Buñuel and so much more than that,” said WGA West VP Howard Rodman in announcing the honor. “His screenplays, which he directs with passion and fine care, have taught us about the exteriors of his native land and the interiors of our own hearts.”

Almo will receive his special prize at the WGAW’s Awards ceremony on February 14.

The Steamy Music Video for Cruz & Miguel Bosé’s Duet Released

She’s already earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in the film adaptation of the musical Nine… And Penélope Cruz could soon earn a Grammy nomination.

The 38-year-old Spanish actress – who made her singing debut in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, in a role that earned her another Oscar nomination – appears in a new music video for her critically acclaimed duet with her Spanish compatriot Miguel Bosé.

Penelope Cruz & Miguel Bose

In the black-and-white clip, Cruz – looking quite sensual – and Bosé appear in different hotel rooms, where the actress boasts her sweet voice and throws herself onto the bed dressed in sexy lingerie, while singing “Decirnos Adiós,” a song composed by her brother Eduardo Cruz.

“Penelope sings fabulously and, above all, she has a lot of personality in her voice and enjoys it a lot, something that you can’t say about everyone,” Bosé told Spanish wire service EFE.

Cruz was one of the special guests on Bosé’s most recent album Papitwo, along with the voices of Joaquín Sabina, Juan Luis Guerra, Tiziano Ferro, Dani Martin and Pablo Alborán, who also collaborated on the production.

The album was released in August 2012.