Aubrey Plaza to Star Opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s Next Thriller

Aubrey Plaza is ready to thrill

The 36-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress will star in Guy Ritchie’s untitled thriller film, which began shooting in Doha, Qatar, this week.

Aubrey Plaza

Plaza stars opposite British rapper Bugzy Malone, Jason Statham and Cary Elwes in the project, which will also shoot in Antalya, Turkey.

The film reunites Ritchie with Statham, marking their second film together for Miramax following Wrath of Man.

“Guy and Jason have repeatedly impressed audiences with their collaborations, and we’re looking forward to bringing this production to the city of Doha, Qatar, a growing market in the entertainment and media space,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Miramax-owner beIN Media Group.

“This film marks our third collaboration with Ritchie, adding to our expanding list of nearly 20 projects having been released or currently in production since beIN’s acquisition of Miramax – a testament to our continued success achieving the target goals we set forth for the studio’s evolution while remaining committed to prioritizing investments in innovative and culturally relevant films.”

In the film, MI6 guns-and-steel agent Orson Fortune (Statham) is recruited by a global intelligence agency to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert Sarah Fidel, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use his charm, ingenuity and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds.

Ritchie will direct and produce from a screenplay written by Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies.

STX will distribute directly in the U.S., UK and Ireland.

Plaza’s previous film credits include Happiest Season, Ingrid Goes West and Dirty Grandpa.

Ana de Armas to Star Opposite Ryan Gosling & Chris Evans in Netflix’s “The Gray Man”

It’s a case of gray matters for Ana de Armas.

The 32-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress will star opposite Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in Joe and Anthony Russo’s big-budget action thriller The Gray Man for Netflix.

Ana de Armas

The Russos have been developing the project for awhile at Sony Pictures, and when the package went back on the market over the summer, Netflix was quick to acquire it and set Gosling and Evans to star. The film will be the biggest-budget film in Netflix’s history on the feature side.

The Russos penned the script with a recent polish by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry.

The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.

de Armas has been on a roll as of late, going back to her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the murder mystery Knives Out. She also recently was seen in the Netflix pic SergioThe Informer and The Night Clerk. With the Covid-19 pandemic delaying several films, her 2021 is expected to be equally busy as she can be seen in the next James Bond film No Time to Die and the New Regency thriller Deep Water opposite Ben Affleck. She is also set to star in Blonde, where she portrays Norma Jean.

Aubrey Plaza to Star Opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s Next Thriller

High five to Aubrey Plaza!

The 36-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/comedian is set to star Jason Statham in the Guy Ritchie untitled thriller formally known as Five Eyes. Miramax is producing and financing with STX handling distribution.

Aubrey Plaza

The story follows MI6 guns-and-steel agent (Statham) who’s recruited by a global intelligence alliance to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use all of his charm, ingenuity and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker.

 

The film will be produced Bill Block for Miramax, which is also fully financing the film.

Ritchie will direct and produce from a screenplay written by The Gentlemen scribes Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies with revisions by Ritchie.

The news comes after Plaza’s scene-stealing role in the romantic comedy Happiest Season, which earned her critical acclaim and a massive amount of praise across social media.

She can be seen next in Lawrence Levine’s Black Bear on December 4th.  The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and garnered Plaza rave reviews for her performance.

She recently recently wrapped production on Lina Roessler’s Best Sellers starring opposite Michael Caine. Plaza most recently received critical acclaim for her role in Ingrid Goes West, which she produced and won the 2018 Independent Spirit Award for “Best First Feature.” Additionally, she recently starred in Noah Hawley’s television series, Legion on FX.

Universal Pictures Releases First Trailer for Penelope Cruz’s Female-Fronted Espionage Thriller “The 355”

Penélope Cruz is ready to demonstrate her intelligence

Universal Pictures has released the official trailer for the espionage thriller The 355, starring the 46-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress..

Penelope Cruz

In addition to Cruz, the female-fronted globetrotting actioner stars Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing, Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramírez.

Universal still has plans to release the film on January 15 in the United States.

Simon Kinberg directs the story that kicks off when a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands. Wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Kruger), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Nyong’o) and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Fan) who is tracking their every move.

The action-packed trailer sees Chastain recruit her team of international special agents, who must bond against a common enemy. If they don’t stop them, “they’ll start World War III,” says Chastain’s Mace.

The picture came together during the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, where it was the hottest project in the market. The hope is to launch a franchise based on an idea by Chastain of a Bourne Identity-like thriller revolving around female spies from agencies around the world.

Shooting took place last summer in locations like Paris, London and Morocco — each of which figures lushly in the trailer above.

Theresa Rebeck and Kinberg wrote the script.

MGM Moves Release Date of “No Time to Die,” Starring Ana de Armas, to Easter 2021

Ana de Armas’ big Bond moment will have to wait…

MGM’s latest James Bond film No Time to Die, starring the 32-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress, is officially moving to April 2, Easter weekend, and vacating its November 20 release date.

Ana de Armas, No Time to Die

This puts the Bond film starring Daniel Craig on the same weekend with Universal Pictures’ F9

“MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of No Time To Die, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience. We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing No Time To Die next year,” said the studio in a statement.

MGM was the first studio to foresee how the coronavirus pandemic was going to stall exhibition, and jumped No Time to Die from its Easter weekend release date of April 10-12 to the Thanksgiving frame.

No Time to Die stands to make $1 billion worldwide, so the studio has pushed back the release date several times now in hopes of having it come out in an optimum, vibrant global marketplace.

de Armas will be making her debut in the film, portraying the character of Paloma, a CIA agent assisting Bond.

Luis Jose Lopez to Appear on CBS’ Military Drama Series “SEAL Team”

Luis Jose Lopez is joining the Team

The Dominican actor has booked a recurring role on the third season of CBS’ military drama series SEAL Team.

Luis Jose Lopez

Starring David BoreanazSEAL Team follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALsas they train, plan and execute the most dangerous missions that our country can ask of them. 

Lopez will play Carlos Ramos, a CIAagent operating under a NOC (Non-Official Cover) who has been discovered/captured by the Venezuelan government. He’s being held captive and risks being moved from South America to Middle East. His previous television credits include For the People and the miniseries When We Rise, and in film he was seen in Jungle and American Sniper.

Zoe Saldana to Star in Fact-Based Thriller “Sabaya”

Zoe Saldana is ready to thrill…

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress will star in Sabaya, a fact-based thriller that Reed Morano will direct based on a William Monahan script about the unlikely circumstances that made possible a 2015 U.S. Special Forces raid that killed a top ISIS leader and started the downfall of the radical Islamic State.

Zoë Saldaña

Saldana will play a female CIAofficer who befriended a recently escaped ISIS sex slave, or “sabaya.” The 15-year-old Yazidi girl can neither read nor write, but as she works with the teen to piece together her harrowing odyssey out of Syria, the CIA officer finds that the abused girl has pinpointed the nerve center of the Caliphate. The subsequent dramatic raid on the site of the young woman’s captivity results in the capture of intelligence that would spell the end of the Islamic State.

The story comes from Spycraft Entertainment, a production company headed by Grant Verstandig and former CIA officers John Sipherand Jerry O’Shea, who work with retired members of the intelligence community to create and develop content based on their true stories. 

“It is an honor to be a part of the telling of this story,” said Saldana. “This young woman’s journey is one for the books, and I am beyond grateful we will get to immortalize it on the silver screen.”

Morano has called Sabaya “a larger than life epic but it’s also an intimate, raw portrait of a young girl’s determination and the bond that forms between these two women. I’ve not seen such a mind-blowing adventure that is simultaneously so emotionally transcendent, from these perspectives before. I’m thrilled to be telling this powerful story with the incredible Bill and Zoe.”

Monahan called Sabaya “the best material for an emotionally powerful theatrical war film that I have seen in ages and I don’t say that lightly. It’s a story of doing the right thing against desperate odds, and if you think about it, no film that’s any good is about anything else whatsoever. Sabaya is what the big screen is for, and this dream team we’ve got is all out for [it].”

Saldana’s previous credits include the Guardians of the Galaxy/ the Avengers franchise films, the Avatar franchise, and the Star Trek franchise films.

FX Renews Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s Drama “Snowfall” for Fourth Season

There’s more snowfall in Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s future… 

Nearly five episodes in to its third season, FX has ordered a fourth season of Snowfall, its acclaimed drama series about the start of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles, starring the 44-year-old Spanish actor. 

Sergio Peris-Mencheta

Created by John SingletonEric Amadioand Dave AndronSnowfall Season 4 will premiere on FX in 2020. 

The third season, currently airing, is set in the summer of 1984. Crack cocaine is spreading like wildfire through South Central Los Angeles, continuing its path of destruction and changing the culture forever. Police are waking up to this growing epidemic, and Sergeant Andre Wright (Marcus Henderson) has set his sights on budding Kingpin and next door neighbor Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) and his people. While local law enforcement fights to stem the tide, Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson) and the CIA are working hard to make sure the flow of cocaine into LA doesn’t stop. To continue funding the war against communism in Central America, Teddy will need to find new routes into the United States using Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Peris-Mencheta) and what’s left of the Villanueva family. As the stakes and losses continue to mount our players truly begin to understand the destructive force they have set in motion and must reexamine their own motivations and the cost of continuing forward from here.

The series is produced by FX Productions.

Ana de Armas to Star in Bond 25 Film

There’s a special Bondin Ana de Armas’ future…

The producers of Bond 25 have revealed key cast and production details from Jamaica, the iconic location for previous Bond films including Dr. No and Live and Let Die.

Ana de Armas

Broadcasting live on Twitter, the production confirmed incoming cast including the 30-year-old Spanish/Cuban actress.

de Armas previously starred in another high-profile film, Blade Runner 2049, which earned her a Saturn Awardnomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to de Armas, other cast members include Rami MalekLashana LynchBilly MagnussenDavid Dencik, and Dali Benssalah

Returning franchise cast members include Ralph FiennesLea Seydoux,Naomie HarrisJeffrey WrightRory Kinnearand Ben WhishawDaniel Craig returns as James Bond.

A title wasn’t revealed but producer Barbara Broccolisaid the film will start in Jamaica where “Bond is not on active service, he is enjoying himself. We’ve got quite a ride in store for him.” His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from theCIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

The production has already shot in Norway and will head over to the UK’s Pinewood studio then onto Matera in Italy. The movie will be the first Bond to use IMAXcameras.

Cary Joji Fukunagais writer-director.  Malek is expected to portray the film’s villain. 

The film recently had a release date change from February 14 2020 to April 8 2020. Additional writers on the script were today confirmed as Neil PurvisRobert WadeScott Z Burnsand Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

MGM will release the film domestically through their United Artists Releasingbanner on April 8. It will go through Universal Pictures International and MGM in the UK and internationally from April 3, 2020.

Coral Peña Lands Recurring Role on NBC’s “The Enemy Within”

Coral Peña has found an Enemy

The Latina actress and 24: Legacy alumna has landeda recurring role opposite Morris Chestnutand Jennifer Carpenterin NBC’s The Enemy Within.

Coral Peña

From Gotham executive producer Ken Woodruff, Matt Corman, Chris Ordand Universal Television, the project was written and executive produced by Woodruff and with a pilot directed by Mark Pellington.

The Enemy Within is a fast-paced thriller set in the world of counterintelligence.

Peña will play Anna Cruz, an ambitiousCIAanalyst enlisted by FBISpecial Agent, Will Keaton (Chestnut) to assist in the hunt for a former Russian SVR agent turned rogue operative who’s responsible for the deaths of her fellow CIA officers. Cruz’s arrival tests the limits of the unprecedented partnership between Keaton and former CIA Deputy Director turned traitor, Erica Shepherd (Carpenter).

Peña was a series regular on Fox’s 24: Legacy opposite Corey Hawkinsand Miranda Otto and appeared recently in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film The Post.

The Enemy Within is set for a midseason debut on NBC.