Gkids Acquires North American Rights to Alberto Vázquez’s Animated Feature “Unicorn Wars”

Alberto Vázquez’s latest project is headed to the United States…

Gkids has acquired North American rights to the 41-year-old Spanish comic book artist and filmmaker’s latest genre-bending animated feature Unicorn Wars.Alberto VázquezThe news comes ahead of the film’s U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest.

The horror-comedy will be released in theaters by Gkids in early 2023, following its domestic release in Spain this fall.

Billed as Bambi meets Apocalypse NowUnicorn Wars‘ logline is as follows:

Unicorn WarsFor ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.

Unicorn Wars previously featured in competition at the 2022 Annecy Animation Film Festival, and was just announced as a selection of the 2022 BFI London Film Festival.

Vázquez directed from his own script, with Chelo Loureiro, Iván Miñambres and Nicolas Schmerkin serving as executive producers.

“There is nobody on Earth who could make a film like Unicorn Wars except Alberto Vázquez,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “We are proud to partner again with this exceptional filmmaker on his richly layered and darkly funny new film about cute characters doing horrific things. It continues to haunt me.”

Vazquez is a Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director.

Belén Cuesta to Star in Disney+’s First Spanish Period Drama About Celebrated Fashion Designer Cristóbal Balenciaga

Belén Cuesta is dressin’ up her resume with a little Balenciaga

The 38-year-old Spanish actress, who has starred in Netflix’s hit series Money Heist, will star opposite Gemma Whelan and Albert San Juan in Disney+’s first Spanish period drama Balenciaga (working title).

Belén Cuesta Other actors set to appear in the drama include Lourdes Iglesias, Jose Mari Goenaga, Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi.

The six-part drama centers on Cristóbal Balenciaga (San Juan), the son of a seamstress and a fisherman who uses his natural talent, constant work and sharp nose for business to become one of the most prominent fashion designers of all time.

It began filming in June and will continue until autumn in several locations in Spain and France with a team of 100 professionals and 2,000 extras.

Cuesta won the Goya Award for Best Actress for La Trinchera Infinita — a previous series from Iglesias, Garaño and Arregi. She will play Fabiola de Mora y Aragón before she became Queen of Belgium. Balenciaga designed her wedding dress in 1960.

Whelan will play Prudence Glynn, a journalist for The Times newspaper.

Elsewhere, Patrice Thibaud will portray Christian Dior; Josean Bengoetxea will play San Sebastian businessman Nicolás Bizkarrondo; Cecilia Solaguren, his wife, Virgilia Mendizabal; Adam Quintero will be Ramón Esparza, partner and collaborator of Balenciaga; and Elvira Cuadrupani plays Bettina Ballard, correspondent for Vogue magazine in Paris.

The main cast is rounded out by actors Thomas Coumans (Wladzio D’Attainville, Balenciaga’s partner and associate), Gabrielle Lazure (Carmel Snow, fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar), Isabelle Bres (designer Jeanne Lanvin), Anna-Victoire Olivier (actress Audrey Hepburn) and Eva Bley (designer Elsa Schiaparelli).

Streamer Disney+ unveiled the show last November as its first Spanish original as it seeks to meet its target of 60 international originals by 2024.

Ana Villafañe to Star as Fidel Castro’s Daughter Alina Fernandez in “Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde”

Ana Villafañe is ready to Rebel yell

The 32-year-old Cuban American actress and singer will star in the indie feature Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde.

Ana Villafañe

Villafañe will portray Fidel Castro’s daughter and anti-communism activist, Alina Fernandez, in the film from Mankind Entertainment and Maven Pictures.

Alina of Cuba is based on the true-life story of Fernandez, a Cuban American immigrant and human rights advocate whose birth was the result of a passionate love affair between Castro and Natalia Naty Revuelta. Revuelta, a Cuban-born socialite, sacrificed her and her physician husband’s personal belongings and finances to help fund the revolution.

Fernandez learned of her connection to Castro at the age of 10: when after years of secret visits to her home, she was finally told by her mother that “El Comandante” was her biological father. Fernandez and her mother stayed in Cuba after the former’s stepfather and her sister fled to the U.S. after his medical clinic was shut down.

Fernandez eventually became one of Castro’s most outspoken critics; she was arrested on more than one occasion for trying to leave and classified as a dissident forbidden to travel outside of Cuba. She defected to Spain in 1993 and later made Miami her permanent home.

The biopic will shoot in Cartagena, Colombia this summer with Goya Award-winner Miguel Bardem set as director.

Alina of Cuba, formerly known as Castro’s Daughter, is written by Academy Award nominee Jose Rivera, and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz.

Villafañe is best known for her breakout role in the Broadway musical On Your Feet portraying Gloria Estefan.

She later starred as Nina Rosario in the Kennedy Center’s 2018 production of In the Heights, and then made her off-Broadway debut in MCC’s critically acclaimed Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties that same year.

On television, Villafañe most recently portrayed Dr. Valentin Castro in NBC’s New Amsterdam and Diana Barea in Sunnysidfor the network, as well as KT in the Paramount+ series Younger.

Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” Earns Six Goya Awards

Fernando León de Aranoa is officially a Boss

The 53-year-old Spanish screenwriter and filmmaker’s comedy-drama The Good Boss, dominated Spain’s top film prizes this year, Premios Goya (Goya Awards), claiming six awards including Best Picture.

Fernando León de Aranoa, Javier Bardem

The film also nabbed Best Director and Best Screenplay for Aranoa, Best Actor for Javier Bardem, Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes) and Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert). It had previously received a record-setting 20 nominations.

The ceremony saw Bardem continue his streak at the awards, collecting his sixth Goya in total, while filmmaker Aranoa is now up to seven in his career.

Javier Bardem, Good BossThe Good Boss stars Bardem as a factory owner who deviously schemes his way to solving all of the problems within his business and his personal life, including his infidelities. It was produced by companies including The MediaPro Studio and MK2 Films. Cohen Media Group will handle the U.S. release.

Other winners at the 2022 Goyas included Blanca Portillo picking up Best Actress for Maixabel, with the film also taking Supporting Actor for Urko Olazabal and New Actress for Maria Cerezuela.

Another Round took home Best European Picture, while New Director went to Clara Roquet for Libertad.

As previously announced, Cate Blanchett was the recipient of this year’s International Goya Award. A further honorary award went to Spanish actor José Sacristán.
.
Full list of Goya winners:

FILM
The Good Boss

DIRECTOR
Fernando León de Aranoa, The Good Boss

NEW DIRECTOR
Clara Roquet, Libertad

ACTRESS
Blanca Portillo, Maixabel

ACTOR
Javier Bardem, The Good Boss

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nora Navas, Libertad

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Urko Olazabal, Maixabel

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fernando León de Aranoa, The Good Boss

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Daniel Monzón y Jorge Guerricaechevarría, The Laws of the Border

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Kiko de la Rica, Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Zeltia Montes, The Good Boss

ORIGINAL SONG
Te espera el mar, (María José Llergo for Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea)

NEW ACTOR
Chechu Salgado, The Laws of the Border

NEW ACTRESS
María Cerezuela, Maixabel

INTERNATIONAL GOYA AWARD
Cate Blanchett

ANIMATED FEATURE
Valentina (Chelo Loureiro)

IBERO-AMERICAN FILM
La cordillera de los sueños, (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)

EUROPEAN PICTURE
Another Round, (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark)

DOCUMENTARY
Who’s Stopping Us, (Jonás Trueba)

HONORARY GOYA
José Sacristán

LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Verónica Echegui (Tótem loba)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Monkey, (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Mamá, (Pablo de la Chica)

EDITING
Vanessa Marimbert, The Good Boss

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Albert Espel, Kostas Sfakianakis (Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea)

COSTUME DESIGN
Vinyet Escobar (The Laws of the Border)

ART DIRECTION
Balter Gallart (The Laws of the Border)

SOUND
Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts (Tres)

MAKEUP AND HAIR DESIGN
Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz (The Laws of the Border)

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Pau Costa, Laura Pedro (Way Down)

Cheech Marin to Star in the Bobby Farrelly-Directed Film “Champions”

Cheech Marin is a champion

The 75-year-old Mexican American actor will lead Champions, a recently-wrapped film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

Cheech MarinMarin stars alongside Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson and Matt Cook.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018.

It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.

Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens and Champ Pederson.

Mark Rizzo penned the script.

Focus Features will distribute the film domestically, with Universal Pictures handling its international release.

Marin is an actor and comedian who broke out in the ’70s, alongside Tommy Chong, as one half of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong. He’s appeared in such films as MachetePlanet TerrorGrindhouseTin CupFrom Dusk Till Dawn, DesperadoGhostbusters IIBorn in East L.A.After Hours and Up in Smoke, along with series including Elena of AvalorLodge 49 and Jane the Virgin.

Carlota Pereda Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Carlota Pereda has new representation…

The Latina writer-director, whose debut feature Piggy (Cerdita) recently made its world premiere in the Midnight Section of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Carlota PeredaIn Pereda’s acclaimed Spanish-language horror film, an overweight teen is bullied by a clique of cool girls while holidaying in her village—with the long walk home that follows changing the rest of her life.

The project was selected in 2020 at script stage for the Cannes Film Festival’s Focus Co-Production Initiative.

It expands on Pereda’s breakthrough 2018 short of the same name, which has won 90 awards, including the Spanish Academy’s Goya Award for Best Short Film in 2019, and the 2020 Slamdance AGBO Fellowship.

Pereda has also worked extensively in television—most notably directing episodes of the Spanish-language series Paco’s Men for Money Heist creator Álex Pina.

Almudena Amor Named to Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021 List

Almudena Amor has had a break-out year… And, she’s being recognized for it.

The 27-year-old Spanish actress has been named to Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021 list.

Almudena AmorVariety’s international writers picked out a handful of global talents who had an incredible year, including Amor.

Amor had only appeared in a couple of shorts before this year, but 2021 saw the PR-grad-turned-actor cast by Spanish horror legend Paco Plaza as the lead in his San Sebastian competition film La Abuela.

Next, she was picked by Fernando León in what has proved to be her international break-out role, as a foil to Javier Bardem’s lead in the Spanish Oscar submission The Good Boss.

The role earned her a best new actress nomination at the Spanish Academy’s Goya Awards.

In November, she also starred in an entry of Amazon’s acclaimed Spanish horror anthology series reboot Stories to Stay Awake.

But Amor isn’t the only Latina to make the list…

Milena Smit is being celebrated for remarkable run the last two years.

The 35-year-old Spanish actress’ debut feature performance came just last year when she starred alongside Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most marketable leading men, in the award-winning thriller Cross the Line.

She was quickly picked out with a Goya nomination for best new actress. This year, Smit’s talents went global as she starred with Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, earning her another Goya nomination, this time for best supporting actress.

In 2022, she will feature in Netflix’s sci-fi horror series The Girl in the Mirror before returning to the big screen in Tin & Tina, one of Spain’s most promising indies of the coming year.

Here’s the complete list of global artists recognized:

Toheeb Jimoh (U.K.)
Keung To (Hong Kong)
Swamy Rotolo (Italy)
Ondina Quadri (Italy)
Almudena Amor (Spain)
Milena Smit (Spain)
Benjamin Voisin (France)
Don Lee (South Korea-U.S.)
Jung Ho Yeon (South Korea)
Adarsh Gourav (India)
Azmeri Haque Badhon (Bangladesh)

Fernando León de Aranoa’s “Good Boss” Earns Record 20 Goya Award Nominations

Fernando León de Aranoa’s livin’ the Good (Boss) life…

The nominations have been announced for the Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars, with the 53-year-old Spanish screenwriter and film director’s comedy-drama The Good Boss racking up an all-time record of 20 nominations across 17 categories.

Fernando León de Aranoa, Javier Bardem

The film, starring Javier Bardem, is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the acting categories, it also set another record by racking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.

Finally, the film is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume Design (Fernando García), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Almudena Fonseca), Best Sound (Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri) and Best Special Effects (Raúl Romanillos and Miriam Piquer).

Javier Bardem, Good Boss

Produced by The Reposado P.C. and The Mediapro StudioThe Good Boss sees Bardem play a scheming factory boss whose plans to control his workforce begin to backfire. It is representing Spain in this year’s Oscar race.

Elsewhere at the Goyas, Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers will also compete for Best Film, alongside Clara Roquet’s Libertad, Iciar Bollain’s Maixabel and Marcel Barrena’s Mediterráneo.

León de Aranoa, Almodóvar and Bollain will compete alongside The Daughter helmer Manuel Martín Cuenca for Best Director.

Penelope Cruz, who has already struck gold with her performance in Parallel Mothers by winning Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, is nominated for the same prize at this year’s Goyas.

The 2022 Goya Awards will be held on February 12, 2022 at Les Arts de València.

Here’s a look at the 2022 Spanish Academy Goya nominations:

BEST PICTURE
“The Good Boss,” (Fernando León de Aranoa)
“Libertad,” (Clara Roquet)
“Parallel Mothers,” (Pedro Almodóvar)
“Maixabel,” (Iciar Bollain)
“Mediterráneo,” (Marcel Barrena)

DIRECTOR
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Manuel Martín Cuenca, (“The Daughter”)
Pedro Almodóvar, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Iciar Bollain, (“Maixabel”)

ACTOR
Javier Bardem, (“The Good Boss”)
Javier Gutiérrez, (“The Daughter”)
Luis Tosar, (“Maixabel”)
Eduard Fernández, (“Mediterráneo”)

ACTRESS
Emma Suárez, (“Josefina”)
Petra Martínez, (“La vida era eso”)
Penélope Cruz, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Blanca Portillo, (“Maixabel”)

NEW DIRECTOR
Carol Rodríguez Colás, (“Chavalas”)
Javier Marco Rico, (“Josefina”)
David Martín de los Santos, (“La vida era eso”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)
Iciar Bollain, Isa Campo, (“Maixabel”)
Juanjo Giménez Peña, Pere Altimira, (“Tres”)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Júlia de Paz Solvas, Núria Dunjó López (“Ama”)
Agustí Villaronga (“El vientre del mar”)
Daniel Monzón, Jorge Guerricaechevarría (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Benito Zambrano, Cristina Campos (“Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake”)

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Zeltia Montes, (“The Good Boss”)
Fatima Al Qadiri, (“La abuela”)
Alberto Iglesias, (“Maixabel”)
Arnau Bataller, (“Mediterráneo”)

ORIGINAL SONG
Àngel Leiro, Jean-Paul Dupeyron, Xavier Capellas, (“Álbum de posguerra”)
Antonio Orozco, Jordi Colell Pinillos, (“El cover”)
Alejandro García Rodríguez, Antonio Molinero León, Daniel Escortell Blandino, José Manuel Cabrera Escot, Miguel García Cantero, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Maria José Llergo, (“Mediterráneo”)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Celso Bugallo. (“The Good Boss”)
Fernando Albizu, (“The Good Boss”)
Manolo Solo, (“The Good Boss,”)
Urko Olazabal, (“Maixabel”)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sonia Almarcha, (“The Good Boss”)
Nora Navas, (“Libertad”)
Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Parallel Mothers”)
Milena Smit, (“Parallel Mothers”)

NEW ACTOR
Óscar de la Fuente, (“The Good Boss”)
Tarik Rmili, (“The Good Boss,”)
Chechu Salgado (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Jorge Motos (“Lucas”)

NEW ACTRESS
Ángela Cervantes, (“Chavalas”)
Almudena Amor, (“The Good Boss”)
Nicolle García, (“Libertad”)
María Cerezuela, (“Maixabel”)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Óscar Vigiola, (“Love Gets a Room”)
Luis Gutiérrez, (“The Good Boss”)
Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, (“Maixabel”)
Albert Espel, Kostas Seakianakis, (“Mediterráneo”)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Pau Esteve Birba, (“The Good Boss”)
Gris Jordana, (“Libertad”)
José Luis Alcaine, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Kiko de la Rica, (“Mediterráneo”)

EDITING
Antonio Frutos, (“Bajocero”)
Vanessa L. Marimbert, (“The Good Boss”)
Miguel Doblado, (“Josefina”)
Nacho Ruiz Capillas, (“Maixabel”)

ART DIRECTION
César Macarrón, (“The Good Boss”)
Balter Gallart, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Antxón Gómez, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Mikel Serrano, (“Maixabel”)

COSTUME DESIGN
Alberto Valcárcel, (“Love gets a room”)
Fernando García, (“The Good Boss”)
Vinyet Escobar, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Clara Bilbao, (“Maixabel”)

MAKEUP
Almudena Fonseca, Manolo García, (“The Good Boss”)
Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Eli Adánez, Sergio Pérez Berbel, Nacho Díaz, (“Libertad”)
Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel, (“Maixabel”)

SOUND DESIGN
Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri, (“The Good Boss”)
Sergio Bürmann, Laia Casanovas, Marc Orts, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia, (“Maixabel”)
Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts, (“Tres”)

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Raúl Romanillos, Míriam Piquer, (“The Good Boss”)
Raúl Romanillos, Ferran Piquer, (“La abuela”)
Àlex Villagrasa, (“Mediterráneo”)
Pau Costa, Laura Pedro, (“Way Down”)

ANIMATED FEATURE
“Gora automatikoa,” (Esaú Dharma, David Galán Galindo, Pablo Vara)
“Mironins,” (Álex Cervantes, Ángel Coronado, Anton Roebben, Eric Goossens, Iván Agenjo, Mikel Mas)
“Salvar el árbol (Zutik!)” (Carmelo Vivanco, Egoitz Rodríguez, Fernando Alonso, Jonatan Guzmán, Nelson Botter)
“Valentina,” (Brandán de Brano, Chelo Loureiro, Luís da Matta, Mariano Baratech, Noa García)

IBEROAMERICAN FEATURE
“Canción sin nombre,” (Melina León, Peru)
“La cordillera de los sueños,” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)
“Las siamesas,” (Paula Hernández, Argentina)
“Los lobos,” (Samuel Kishi, Mexico)

EUROPEAN FEATURE
“Bye Bye Morons,” (Albert Dupontel, France)
“I’m Your Man,” (Maria Schrader, Germany)
“Another Round,” (Thomas Vinterberg, Dinamarca)
“Promising Young Woman” (Emerald Fennell, United Kingdom)

FICTION SHORT
“Farrucas,” (Ian de la Rosa)
“Mindanao,” (Borja Soler)
“Tótem loba,” (Verónica Echegui)
“Votamos,” (Santiago Requejo)
“Yalla,” (Carlo D’Ursi)

DOCUMENTARY
“The Return: Life After ISIS,” (Alba Sotorra)
“Heroes. Silence and Rock and Roll,” (Alexis Morante)
“Quién lo impide,” (Jonás Trueba)
“Tehran Blues,” (Javier Tolentino)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Dajla: cine y olvido,” (Arturo Dueñas Herrero)
“Figurante,” (Nacho Fernández)
“Mamá,” (Pablo de la Chica)
“Ulisses,” (Joan Bover)

ANIMATED SHORT
“Nacer,” (Roberto Valle)
“Proceso de selección,” (Carla Pereira)
“The Monkey,” (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)
“Umbrellas,” (José Prats)

Alejandro Amenábar “Thesis” to Get English-Language Remake Treatment from Sentient Entertainment 

Alejandro Amenábar is seeing his thesis revisited…

Sentient Entertainment has snagged the English-language remake rights to Thesis, a horror-thriller from the 49-year-old Spanish-Chilean film director, screenwriter, composer and BAFTA Award nominee.

Alejandro Amenábar

Amenábar’s original film won seven Goya Awards and other accolades upon its release in 1996.

The original film centered on Ángela (Ana Torrent), a student writing a thesis about violence, who comes upon a snuff video where a girl is tortured to death, soon discovering that the victim was an alumna of her school.

Sentient acquired control of the rights to Thesis from FilmSharks-owned The Remake Co. and Enrique Cerezo’s VideoMercury, in what’s described as a highly competitive bidding war.

Cerezo, who is the president of European football club Atlético Madrid, originally acquired the film rights when he purchased Sogecine, the Spanish production company formerly owned by Canal Plus.

Sentient’s Renee Tab and Christopher Tuffin will produce the remake with Rud and Aliwen Entertainment’s Lucas Akoskin, with Cerezo exec producing.

“Amenabar was ahead of his time in making Thesis. Our culture has become more fascinated and obsessed with sex and violence than ever. The desensitization of violence in the media has reached an all-time high and to devastating effect,” said Tab. “Through a university campus experience, we want to tell the next generation’s story as authentic as possible, touching on what students today are feeling and suffering in accordance with mental health and the pressures ahead of them. All of this is hidden in a great investigative thriller.”

The full-service management and production company founded by Tab in 2010 also recently acquired rights to Amenábar’s horror-thriller The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, and is developing a remake with Universal Pictures and Aliwen Entertainment’s Akoskin. The original was released by Miramax in 2001, going on to gross more than $200M worldwide.

Maribel Verdú Starring in Apple Studios’ “Raymond and Ray” 

Maribel Verdú is providing care…

The 51-year-old Spanish actress has been cast in Apple Studios’ Raymond and Ray alongside Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo.

Maribel Verdú,

Verdu and Okonedo join a cast that includes Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke.

The Rodrigo García-directed and written feature, which is currently filming in Virginia, follows half-brothers Raymond (McGregor) and Ray (Hawke) who have lived in the shadow of a terrible father. Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves. There’s anger, there’s pain, there’s folly, there might be love, and there’s definitely grave-digging.

Verdú will star as Lucia, a partner and caretaker to Raymond and Ray’s father. Her character is described as one having the innate strength and alluring personality that will mend the broken family in the wake of the father’s death.

Verdú , an 11-time Goya Award nominee and two-time winner, starred in Y tu mamá también and Pan’s Labyrinth

Raymond and Ray is produced by Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn, who’ll produce through their Mockingbird Pictures.