Anya Taylor-Joy & “Super Mario Bros. Movie” Cast Mates Join Jimmy Fallon & The Roots to Perform Game’s Original Theme

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s theme on for Anya Taylor-Joy…

In celebration of MAR10 Day (March 10), the 26-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress joined her Super Mario Bros. Movie, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to one-up the game franchise’s original theme song.

Taylor-Joy, who portrays Princess Peach, Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key and Charlie Day joined Fallon and his in-house band for a special Tonight Show video, singing a choral rendition of the instantly recognizable video game’s theme song.

The actors make up the main voice cast of the upcoming animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, which will arrive in theaters April 5.

In the video, Fallon and the actors take turns taking center stage as Questlove and other members of The Roots add layers of suave harmony. All the while, the singers are edited into the pixelated landscape of the Mario universe, where they pop in and out of green pipes and send shells flying at one another.

Then, Nintendo legend and Mario game creator Shigeru Miyamoto makes an appearance, and even has a little solo at the very end of the video.

Fans in the comments absolutely loved the creative take on the Mario music.

“Broooo… This is so awesome!” wrote one. “Just to see the voice cast of The Super Mario Bros Movie and even seeing Miyamoto singing [an a cappella] cover of the iconic Super Mario tracks is just phenomenal to watch.”

“The ending was a masterpiece in every way,” added another.

Anya Taylor-Joy’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” To Open Earlier Than Expected, on April 5

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy’s super launch will begin sooner than expected.

Illumination Entertainment/Universal’ film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress, will open around the world on Wednesday, April 5, before Easter weekend.

The film had been set for Good Friday, April 7.

In what arguably could be one of the biggest openings of the spring, the animated film featuring Chris Pratt, Chris Day, Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, et al., is going earlier to capitalize on spring breaks stateside and so that fans can experience it around the globe at the same time.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the film will launch in more than 60 markets on its opening day.

Ten markets for Super Mario Bros. in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are opening on a variety of dates in April and May including Japan, where it will open on April 28 timed to the Golden Week holidays.

Should this film open big it will be a huge win for Nintendo on the big screen. The last Super Mario Bros movie in 1993 — a live-action adaptation of the hit videogame franchise released by Buena Vista and starring the late Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi — was expected to be a summer tentpole back then, but tanked off a mid-$40M production cost with a global gross near $39M.

This Super Mario Bros animated film is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, and was co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo.

Nintendo Direct Releases Second Trailer for “Super Mario Bros Movie” with First Look at Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a peachy moment for Anya Taylor-Joy…

The Nintendo Direct YouTube channel has unveiled the second trailer for Illumination’s Super Mario Bros Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress as Princess Peach.

In the new trailer, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) enters a cheering arena where he faces off with Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogen). Mario jumps and the big ape catches the little guy in mid air before whacking him repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Koopa has Luigi in his grip.

“One problem, there’s a human who has a mustache just like you,” says the ogre voiced by Jack Black.

We also see Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach for the first time.

“There’s a huge universe out there with a lot of galaxies,” Peach tells little mushroom guy, Toad.

Super Mario Bros Movie will be released next Easter Weekend, April 7-9.

On hand to introduce the trailer were the film’s producers Chris Melendandri, and Donkey Kong and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, as well as Rogen (with his dog named Zelda) and Taylor-Joy.

Lorenza Izzo Signs with M88 for Representation

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Lorenza Izzo has new representation…

The 32-year-old Chilean actress and producer has signed with M88 and its sister company Uncmmn for representation.

Izzo will next be seen in Greg Mottola’s Miramax comedy, Confess, Fletch, opposite Jon Hamm.

She can currently be seen in HBO Max’s Emmy-winning comedy series Hacks, and in Lissette Feliciano’s award-winning film Women Is Losers, which was released by HBO Max after premiering in competition at SXSW. Izzo also produced the latter title, in which she stars opposite Shang-Chi‘s Simu Liu.

Izzo has previously appeared on the film side in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar winner Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood; Universal and Amblin’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls, opposite Jack Black and Cate Blanchett; and writer-director Dan Fogelman’s multigenerational Amazon drama, Life Itself, opposite Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde.

She also starred opposite Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in the Lionsgate psychological thriller Knock Knock, from director Eli Roth.

Izzo also recently starred on the television side in John Logan’s Penny Dreadful spin-off, City of Angels. Additional TV credits include AMC’s Feed the Beast, in which she starred alongside David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess, the Gaumont/Netflix series Hemlock Grove, Hulu’s Dimension 404 and the fourth and final season of Hulu’s Casual.

Izzo is well known in Chile for starring in a pair of comedies from director Nicolas Lopez: Que Pena Tu Boda and Que Pena Tu Familia.

She continues to be represented by ICM and Viewpoint.

Former WME Partner Phillip Sun and Macro Founder & CEO Charles D. King launched M88 in 2020, with an eye toward supporting the work of the next generation of artists and cultural leaders. Sun leads the firm with partners Oronde Garrett and Gaby Mena.

Anya Taylor-Joy Among Cast for Illumination’s ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Animated Film

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is preparing for her next royal excursion…

Illumination and Nintendo have announced the powerhouse voice cast for their upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film, which includes the 25-year-old Argentine American actress.

Taylor-Joy, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance in Queen’s Gambit, will star as Princess Peach in the film, which will hit cinemas on December 21, 2022.

Playing the fraternal, mushroom digesting plumbers and squashers of turtles are Chris Pratt as Mario and Charlie Day as Luigi.

Playing bad guy Bowser is Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.

“Each voice actor was cast for their ability to capture the unique spirit of their character,” reads the release.

The co-financed feature between Universal and Nintendo will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who previously collaborated on the animated series Teen Titans Go! and the film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.

The film’s screenplay will be written by Matthew Fogel, whose credits include The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and the upcoming Illumination feature Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Future offshore release dates will be announced.

“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honored to have the unique opportunity to work so closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie, unlike any film Illumination has made to date,” said Chris Meledandri who is also an outside director of Nintendo.

“We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game. The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen,” said Miyamoto.

Super Mario Bros. is a huge franchise play for Universal and Illumination. Already, there’s a Super Mario Bros. land open at the Universal Japan theme park with others under construction at Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando.

The movie has been a long awaited revival for fans. There was a live action movie in 1993 starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi and Dennis Hopper as baddie King Koopa. There was also in the late 1980s The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! animated series which starred Captain Lou Albano as the voice of Mario and Danny Wells as the voice of Luigi.

Mario Brothers was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo’s chief engineer in 1983. Super Mario Bros. the subseries, was launched in 1985. It is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with more than 758.06 million copies of games sold, including 388.92 million for the Super Mario games alone.

Edgar Ramirez to Star in Eli Roth’s Film Adaptation of “Borderlands” Video Game

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Edgar Ramirez is heading to the borderlands…

The 44-year-old Venezuelan actor will portray Atlas in Eli Roth’s adaptation of the bestselling video game Borderlands for Lionsgate.

Ramirez joins Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Haley Bennett, and Jack Black. In the game, Atlas is a business titan and arms manufacturer, and the most powerful person in the universe.

“What an incredible honor to have an actor of Edgar’s caliber, talent, and charisma playing opposite Cate Blanchett and this remarkable cast,” Roth said. “Atlas has to be a truly magnetic personality, someone with charisma and charm but that air of menace underneath it all. I’ve been a fan of Edgar’s since his early performances and he continues to amaze me with each dramatic turn. We want to create something wild, fun, and very different from anything they’ve seen from Edgar before. I am so, so excited to work with him.”

In the film, Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.

Based on the game from Gearbox and 2K, one of the bestselling video game franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands.

“The force of Edgar’s presence and the strength of his talent as an actor make him an ideal choice to play Atlas, a character who controls the fate of so many in the Borderlands universe. He’s the perfect addition to this perfect cast,” said Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.

Borderlands is one of the world’s most successful video game franchises, with more than 68 million units sold-in worldwide, including over 24 million units of Borderlands 2, which is the highest-selling title in the history of 2K. The most recent installment, Borderlands 3, which launched in September 2019 and was recently released for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, has sold-in more than 12 million units worldwide and was honored with the award for Best Multiplayer Game at Gamescom 2019 and Best Ongoing Game at Gamescom 2020.

The latest draft of the screenplay is by Craig Mazin.

Ramirez has stayed busy over the past year, most recently starring opposite Jennifer Garner in Netflix’s Yes Day. He was also recently seen in HBO’s critically acclaimed limited series, The Undoing. He will next star in Disney’s Jungle Cruise and Universal’s The 355.

Fat Joe to Appear on the Upcoming “MDA Kevin Hart Kids Telethon”

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Fat Joe’s got hart… And, he’s ready to share it with the world.

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American rapper, whose real name Joseph Antonio Cartagena, will take part in the MDA Kevin Hart Kids Telethon, the upcoming two-hour special hosted by Hart that reimagines the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s annual variety show fundraiser.

Fat Joe joins a lineup of talent additions that includes Don Cheadle, Common, Cindy Crawford, Whitney Cummings, Stephen Curry, Zachary Levi and Kelly Rowland.

The special, which will benefit the MDA and Help From the Hart Charity, streams live on Saturday from 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET on Hart’s LOL Network and its digital platforms YouTube and Pluto TV, as well as on TikTok, Triller and Twitch.

SiriusXM will air an encore of the show on its Laugh Out Loud Radio channel on October 26 at 4:00 pm ET and again the next day at 10:00 am ET.

The telethon will feature entertainment, comedy, musical performances and MDA’s Let’s Play For a Cure gaming elements, a gaming stream hosted by Zedd running simultaneously. A Telethon Showcase to celebrate the members of the neuromuscular community and hosted by Nancy O’Dell and Jann Carl will follow the two-hour main show. It will stream on the MDA’s Facebook page.

As a warmup, an MDA-hosted online auction on CharityBuzz featuring items from Serena Williams, Curry and others launches Friday at mda.org/telethon.

The latest talent additions to the lineup join previously announced guests including Garcelle Beauvais, Aloe Blacc, Jack Black, Usain Bolt, Bryan Cranston, Adam Devine, Josh Gad, Liz Gillies, Aldis Hodge, Edwin Hodge, Michael B. Jordan, DJ Khaled, Daniel Levy, Loni Love, Leslie Mann, Jillian Mercado, Robin Thicke, Gabrielle Union Wade and John David Washington.

Jonathan Krisel is directing.

Quibi to Stream All-Star Remake of “The Princess Bride” Featuring Jenna Ortega

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a royal moment for Jenna Ortega…

Starting Monday, Quibi will stream an all-star remake of The Princess Bride filmed by actors at home while in quarantine, including the 17-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress.

In addition to Ortega, the re-creation will feature an A-list cast that includes couples Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner,Common and Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka and Chris Pine and Annabelle Wallis, along with Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Garner, Elijah Wood, Jon Hamm, Beanie Feldstein, Lucas Hedges, Jack Black, David Oyelowo, Keegan-Michael Key, Patton Oswalt, Josh Gad, Andy Serkis, Diego Luna, Taika Waititi and Zazie Beetz and more.

Directed by Jason Reitman, the project will see Common playing the heroic Westley (originated by Cary Elwes), Haddish as Princess Buttercup (first played by Robin Wright), and Jackman as the villainous Humperdinck, to name a few.

The Princess Bride’s director, Rob Reiner, will also appear in the remake, along with Fred Savage, who reprises his role as the grandson in the film.

Beginning June 29, Quibi will release chapters of the made-at-home movie daily for two weeks.

The remake also is aiding a good cause. As part of the project, Quibi has donated $1 million to chef José Andrés’ charity World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to those who have been most affected by the coronaviruspandemic.

The remake of The Princess Bridewas first reported by Vanity Fair.

George Lopez to Take Part in Comedy Fundraiser for Feeding America

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

George Lopez is helping to feed America…

The 59-year-old Mexican American comedian and actor will take part in the Byron Allen-driven comedy fundraiser for Feeding America.

The fundraiser will be held on Sunday, May 10 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET, with NBCbroadcasting the show.

In addition to Lopez, the program will include participation from Sebastian Maniscalco, JB Smoove, Jim Gaffigan, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Cedric the Entertainer, Whitney Cummings, Jim Gaffigan, Brad Garrett, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin James, Sarah Silverman and Kenan Thompson.

Others taking part include Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Marlon Wayans, Howie Mandel, Tiffany Haddish, Brad Garrett, Taraji P. Henson, Louie Anderson, Margaret Cho, Kenan Thompson, Marc Maron, Jon Lovitz, Caroline Rhea, Byron Allen, Billy Gardell, Tim Meadows, Jamie Kennedy, Bill Engvalland Sheryl Underwood.

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group television production division Entertainment Studios and Funny or Die will be producing the live-streaming comedy event.

The fundraiser will support the hunger-relief organization Feeding America.

Additionally, the event will livestream on the Allen Media Group TV networks Comedy.TV and The Weather Channel, as well as on the free streaming service app Local Now.

Pre-recorded comedy segments will be featured during the three-hour event. Committed to appearing are Hart, Sandler, Murphy, Rock, etc.

Allen, founder/chair/CEO of Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group, said the benefit will help hungry people who are straining the resources of the nation’s food banks during the pandemic shutdown.

“Laughter is often the best medicine, and we are extremely motivated to bring attention to issues of food insecurity, and to assist in providing meals to families across the country who are financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said Wednesday.

“The coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn it has created is shining a light on the fragile nature of people’s household budgets,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks. “Millions more of our neighbors are turning to food banks for help and we cannot thank Byron Allen and Allen Media Group enough for their support to raise funds and awareness of our work.”

Rebecca Delgado to Launch “The Alarmist” Podcast on Earios

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Rebecca Delgadois about to ring the Alarm(ist)…

The Puerto Rican actress/writer will be part of the inaugural slate for female-focused podcast network Earios.

Delgado’s podcast is entitled The Alarmist. The Good Placeactress sits down with a guest to analyze and scrutinize history’s greatest disasters, from the sinking of the Titanic to the break-up of The Beatles, to find out what went wrong and who is to blame.

Delgado’s podcast joins a roster that includes projects by Love creator Lesley Arfin, Margaret Choand Glow’sKimmy Gatewood

Earios was set up by former UTAand WME comedy agent Priyanka Mattoo, who also ran Electric Dynamitewith Jack Black, Maria Blasucciand Amanda Lund.

Last year, the company successfully raised money through a Kickstartercampaign and secured enough to launch 12 shows this year. It has also partnered with podcast company Acastto launch the slate, which will launch three shows at the start of July and will run new shows every couple of weeks.

It’s designed to produce female-fronted podcasts after Lund and Blasucci, who previously hosted their own independent shows, failed to find podcast companies run by women even though over 30% of shows are hosted or co-hosted by women and women make up half of podcast listeners.

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