Leguizamo to Star in CBS’ Comedy Pilot “Taxi-22”

John Leguizamo has flagged down his next role…

The 50-year-old Colombian actor has been cast as the lead in CBS’ Taxi-22, a single-camera comedy project that had been shepherded by the late James Gandolfini.

John Leguizamo

Based on the hit French Canadian comedy, Taxi-22 centers on a politically incorrect NYC cab driver (Leguizamo). In addition to starring, he’ll also co-executive produce the project.

Written/executive produced by Tad Quill, CBS’ Taxi-22 adaptation originally was ordered to pilot in January 2014. After difficulties casting the lead in a competitive pilot casting marketplace, CBS pushed the project. The network and CBS Television Studios, which produces the project, explored several casting choices in the off-season and made it clear that the pilot remained a priority.

CBS bought the project, with Gandolfini on board to executive produce, just two weeks before the Emmy-winning actor’s tragic death in June 2013.

Taxi-22 had been a passion project for Gandolfini, who first developed it at HBO. The project went through three incarnations at the pay cable network with different writers and Gandolfini loosely attached to play the lead at one point.

Gandolfini is getting a posthumous exec producer credit on the pilot and potential first season of the series.

Leguizamo recently completed the films The Nest with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler; Stealing Cars; and The Experimenters, which will premiere at the Sundance film festival.

Currently, he’s playing his one-man show, Latin History For Dummies, around the country.

Lopez’s Revenge Drama “Lila & Eve” to Debut at the Sundance Film Festival

Jennifer Lopez apparently agrees with the saying, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and American Idol judge will be making an appearance at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez’s latest film Lila & Eve, co-starring How To Get Away With Murder’s Viola Davis, will make its out of competition debut next month at the Utah-based festival.

The dramatic film centers on two distraught mothers, whose children were gunned down in a drive-by, as they team up to avenge their deaths after local authorities fail to take action.

Other films with Latino talent to be shown at next month’s Sundance Film Festival include Colombian director Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert and Colombian actor John Leguizamo’s Experimenter.

Here’s a closer look at the new additions to the Sundance Film Festival lineup featuring Latino talent:

PREMIERES

A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.

Experimenter / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Almereyda) — Experimenter is based on the true story of famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series of radical behavior experiments that tested ordinary humans’ willingness to obey authority by using electric shock. We follow Milgram from meeting his wife through his controversial experiments that sparked public outcry. Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Kellan Lutz, Taryn Manning, John Leguizamo.

Last Days in the Desert / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia) — Ewan McGregor is Jesus — and the Devil — in an imagined chapter from his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting himself up for a dramatic test. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer, Tye Sheridan.

Lila & Eve / U.S.A. (Director: Charles Stone III, Screenwriter: Patrick Gilfillan) — Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers. They soon embark on a journey of revenge, but also recovery. Cast: Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Shea Whigham, Julius Tennon, Ron Caldwell, Aml Ameen.

Thorne Joins the Voice Cast of the Animated Film “Underdogs”

It’s okay to call Bella Thorne an underdog

The 17-year-old half-Cuban American actress/singer and former Disney Channel star has joined the voice cast of the animated film Underdogs.

Bella Thorne

From The Weinstein Co., the Argentine-Spanish family flick from director Juan J. Campanella tracks a shy but talented foosball player who defends his town and his girl from a nefarious soccer player with the help of his foosball table figurines, who come magically to life.

The film is undergoing a Hollywood revision and Ariana Grande, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Morrison, Katie Holmes, John Leguizamo, Eugenio Derbez, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, and Chazz Palminteri are currently recording English-language dialogue with some script retooling for the domestic audience.

Thorne will voice the younger version of love interest Laura, also played by Grande and Holmes.

Thorne is known for Disney Channel’s Shake It Up and her recurring roles on Dirty Sexy Money and Big Love and was recently seen in theaters in Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. She also guest-starred on CBSCSI.

She joins Underdogs after starring in another Weinstein Co. release, the Blumhouse/Dimension-produced Amityville: The Awakening.

Underdogs is set to open in theaters on April 10, 2015.

Leguizamo Joins Voice Cast of the Animated Film “Underdogs”

John Leguizamo is an underdog

The 50-year-old Colombian actor/comedian has landed a voice-acting role in Underdogs, an animated family film being produced by the Weinstein Company.

John Leguizamo

Leguizamo joins a cast that includes Ariana Grande, Katie Holmes, Matthew Morrison, Nicholas Hoult, and Saturday Night Lives Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan.

The plot involves a childhood foosball rivalry that turns into a magical adventure.

Underdogs, directed by Oscar-winner Juan Jose Campanella, will hit theaters on April 10, 2015.

Grindstone Entertainment Acquires North American Rights to Leguizamo’s “Cymbeline”

John Leguizamo’s latest project will hit U.S. theaters in the near future…

Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to the modern-day film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, starring the 50-year-old Colombian actor/comedian.

John Leguizamo

The film, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, centers on a battle between dirty cops and a drug dealing biker gang, set in a corruption-riddled contemporary America. Shakespeare’s play centered on the daughter of the British king Cymbeline, who discovers she has secretly married a man raised in her father’s court, resulting in his banishment from the court.

In addition to Leguizamo, the film also stars Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, Penn Badgley, Dakota Johnson and Anton Yelchin.

Cymbeline, which re-teams director Michael Almereyda with Hawke more than a decade after their collaboration on Hamlet in 2000, will be distributed in the spring.

It’s Leguizamo’s latest appearance in a film adaptation of a William Shakespeare work. He previously starred in 1996’s Baz Luhrmann-directed Romeo + Juliet, an abridged modernization of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Leguizamo to Star Opposite Tina Fey & Amy Poehler in “The Nest”

John Leguizamo is flying to the nest

The 49-year-old Colombian actor has landed a role in The Nest, a comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as two 30-something sisters who throw one last party in their parents’ soon-to-be-sold house.

John Leguizamo

Directed by Pitch Perfect-helmer Jason Moore froma screenplay by Paula Pell, the film will also star John Cena, James Brolin, Ike Barinholtz and Maya Rudolph.

No word yet on Leguizamo’s character in the film for Universal Pictures.

Earlier this year, he starred in the hit comedy Ride Along, where he co-starred with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. He was also recently seen in the Open Road pic Chef and has a handful of projects set to go into production, including Fugly and American Ultra.

The multi-hyphenate has also begun expanding his brand outside of film with his HBO special Ghetto Klown premiering in March and his PBS special American Masters: The Boomer List currently in pre-production. He will also be performing at Central Park SummerStage on July 28th.

The Nest is set for release on December 18, 2015.

Trailer Released for Jon Favreau’s “Chef,” Co-Starring Vergara

Sofia Vergara’s is cookin’ up something special in her next film project…

The 41-year-old Colombian actress is starring in Jon Favreau’s soon-to-be released comedy Chef, which just saw its theatrical trailer released.

Sofia Vergara in Chef

The film centers on Favreau’s character, Miami-born chef Carl Casper, who tries and fails to open a restaurant in Los Angeles. He returns to Miami to fix up a food truck he names El Jefe Cubanos and reacquaints with his ex-wife (portrayed by Vergara). He plans to drive across the country to reclaim his success in L.A.

In addition to Favreau and Vergara, the film also stars John Leguizamo, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Scarlett Johansson, Bobby Cannavale and Amy Sedaris.

Open Road, which acquired the distribution rights to Chef in June, and will release the film stateside on May 9.

Leguizamo to Star in Atlas Independent’s Feature “The Man on Carrion Road”

John Leguizamo is about to cause a little trouble on the border…

The 49-year-old Colombian American actor/comedian has joined Lynn Collins and Jim Belushi for Atlas Independent‘s latest feature project The Man on Carrion Road.

John Leguizamo

The film, directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego, will star Patrick Wilson and Ian McShane.

From a screenplay written by Nils Lyew, the story chronicles a botched Mexican cartel deal in the back roads of a border town.

The town’s new sheriff (Wilson) must team up with the retired lawman (McShane) he replaced to investigate the source of the deal in order to stop a mysterious cartel butcher (Leguizamo) and his systematic brutalization of the town’s residents.

Production is scheduled to begin April 14.

Leguizamo most recently performed his one-man show on the HBO special John Leguizamo‘s Ghetto Klown.

He’ll also star alongside Uma Thurman, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart in the upcoming action-comedy film American Ultra, directed by Nima Nourizadeh.

Leguizamo Joins Voice Cast of BBC Earth’s “Walking with Dinosaurs”

John Leguizamo is set to walk with the dinosaurs

The 49-year-old Colombian American actor/comedian has been added to the voice cast of Fox’s Walking with Dinosaurs 3D.

John Leguizamo

Leguizamo joins the BBC Earth production as the Alexomis bird Alex, with Justin Long portraying a Pachyrhinosauruses named Patchi, Alex’s symbiotic host pal.

Tiya Sircar will voice Juniper and Skyler Stone will voice Scowler.

Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale are helming the CG/live-action December 20 release based on the 1999 BBC miniseries.

It’s the latest prehistoric project for Leguizamo…

Since 2002, he’s voiced the character of Sid the sloth in the Ice Age animated films.

Leguizamo’s One-Man Show “Ghetto Klown” to Become an HBO Special

John Leguizamo will be klowning around on HBO next spring…

The 49-year-old Colombian American comedian/actor will be bringing his Ghetto Klown to HBO.

John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown

The pay cable network will tape Leguizamo’s hit one-man show on November 16 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Victoria Theatre for debut next spring.

Ghetto Klown, for which Leguizamo received a Drama Desk Award, is a semi-autobiographical show about his path to stardom based on his memoir Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends. 

Ghetto Klown, written by Leguizamo, will be directed by Fisher Stevens, who also directed the successful 2012 Broadway production and national tour.

It’s Leguizamo’s first HBO special in 11 years and the fifth one-man show to become a special on HBO.

His other shows include Mambo Mouth (1991); Spic-O-Rama (1993); Freak (1998), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award; and Sexaholic…A Love Story (2002).