John Leguizamo to Serve as Presenter at 94th Annual Academy Awards Show

John Leguizamo has a date with Oscar

The 61-year-old Colombian actor will serve as a presenter for this year’s Academy Awards show.

John LeguizamoLeguizamo joins a roster of presenters that includes Daniel KaluuyaMila Kunis, Lupita Nyong’oNaomi ScottWesley Snipes, John Travolta, Ruth E. CarterKevin Costner, Anthony Hopkins, Zoë KravitzLady Gaga, Lily James, Simu LiuRami MalekRosie PerezChris RockUma Thurman and Yuh-Jung Youn.

The Oscars will air live on March 27 on ABC.

Oscarcast producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan had previously discussed the presenters who’ll form part of the show.

“Movies inspire us, entertain us and unite us across the globe,” Packer said at the time. “That’s the precise goal of the show this year, and we’re thrilled to welcome the first of a stellar lineup joining the Oscars stage to help us celebrate the power of film and honor the year’s best in filmmaking.”

The Power of the Dog leads the field with 12 nominations coming into this month’s Oscar show, and Dune is next with 10.

ABC will air the 94th annual Academy Awards live from Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET and in 200-plus territories around the world.

Pablo Trapero to Direct Lily James in Studiocanal’s Thriller “The Paris Trap”

Pablo Trapero is Trap-ped

The 48-year-old Argentine filmmaker will direct the thriller The Paris Trapfor Studiocanal.

Pablo Trapero

The Hitchcockian thriller, starring Lily James, revolves around a young American woman on a visit to Paris who becomes the victim of mistaken identity. Caught up in a secret international government operation, she must play the part to save her own life. 

James will play the young woman whose character is thrust to the center of the operation and must find her way out of the “trap,” helped by her handler. That role, the co-lead of the film, will be cast shortly.

The script was written by Daniel Taplitz with current revisions by Michael Lesslie.

The Paris Trap will shoot in Paris early next year.

Trapero previously helmed El Clan,which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival

He most recently directed the hit international series ZeroZeroZero for Studiocanal, Amazon and Sky TV

Ana de Armas to Star in the Spy Drama “Wasp Network”

Ana de Armasis expanding her Network

The 30-year-old Cuban actress will co-star in Olivier Assayas Wasp Network, the spy drama based on Fernando Morais’ book The Last Soldiers of the Cold War

Ana de Armas

de Armas joins previously announced cast members Edgar RamírezPenélope CruzPedro Pascal,Wagner Moura and Gael García Bernal.

The film, which will go before cameras in Havana at the end of this month, tells the true story of Cuban spies in the American territory during the 1990s, revealing the tentacles of a Florida-based terrorist network with ramifications in Central America and with the consent of the U.S. government.

de Armas’ credits include Blade Runner 2049War Dogsand Hands of Stone.

Her upcoming slate includes Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, opposite Daniel CraigChris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield and Michael ShannonUniversal/Working Title’s untitled Danny Boyle romantic comedy with Lily JamesKate McKinnonHimesh Patel, and Ed Sheeran; as well as The Night Clerk with Tye Sheridan and Helen Hunt.

First Trailer Released for Andy Garcia’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”

It’s all Greek to Andy Garcia

Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the sequel to Mamma Mia! The Movie, starring the 61-year-old Cuban actor.

Andy Garcia,

The sequel shifts back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present.

Ten years after Mamma Mia! The Movie grossed $610M worldwide, everybody’s back on the Greek island of Kalokairi for an all-new original musical based on the songs of the Swedish pop sensations.

All of the original cast returns including Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard.

Garcia is new to the island, along with Lily James showing off some pipes as Young Donna, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Jeremy Irvine, Josh Dylan and Hugh Skinner.

Cher also turns up in the trailer above as grandmother Ruby Sheridan.

Ol Parker writes and directs the sequel from a story by Catherine Johnson, Richard Curtis and Parker.

The musical comedy will open domestically in the U.S. on July 20, 2018.

Disney Releases New Trailer for “Cinderella” Featuring a Peek at Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother

Cinderella isn’t the only one getting a makeover…

Disney has released a sneak peek at its upcoming live-action fairy tale Cinderella, featuring Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother getting her own magical makeover.

Helena Bonham Carter in Cinderella

The clip was released on New Year’s Eve, appropriately enough, at the stroke of midnight.

In addition to a closer look  Bonham Carter’s chartacter, the 60-second video — posted on the movie’s official Twitter account — offers more glimpses at the infamous glass slippers, the coach and other iconic images associated with the fairy tale.

Kenneth Branagh directs the live-action retelling of the classic story, starring Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and Downton Abbey‘s Lily James as Ella.

When the trailer for the movie was released in November, it was viewed 4.2 million times on YouTube and 33 million times on Facebook in the first 24 hours, the biggest showing in history for a Disney movie, excluding Marvel Comics releases.

Cinderella opens in theaters on March 13.

Bustamante’s Debut Feature “Ixcanul” to Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival

Jayro Bustamante
 is headed to Germany…

The Guatemalan director’s first feature film Ixcanul has been chosen as one of the first seven films for the 65th Berlin Film Festival Competition program.

Ixcanul

The film, which Bustamante wrote, centers on a 17 year-old Mayan Kaqchikel girl named Maria, who lives with her parents in a coffee plantation on the side of an active volcano in Guatemala. She’s part of an arranged marriage she doesn’t want but can’t escape her fate.

Bustamante’s short films have earned him acclain at a number of film festivals. The most recent, Cuando sea grande, premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival in 2012, where it landed the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée) quality award and was aired on television networks in France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The film stars María Mercedes Croy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo and Marvin Coroy.

Also in the Berlinale mix is Kenneth Branagh’s live-action Disney film Cinderella, although it’s playing out of competition. Lily James plays the titular role, while Helena Bonham Carter portrays the fairy godmother.

Other films that made the first cut include Peter Greenaway’s Eisenstein In Guanajuato. Shot in Mexico, the film stars Stelio Savante, Lisa Owen and Maya Zapata. It follows Eisenstein as he spends 10 days in 1931 in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he falls in love. His sensual experiences there turn out to have been crucial in his life and his films. From being a formal filmmaker with films about conceptual ideas, his trip to Mexico humanizes Eisenstein as a filmmaker, and his films become more sympathetic to the human condition.

Berlinale runs from February 5-15.

Here’s a look at the selected film featuring Hispanic talent in front of and/or behind the camera:

Cinderella
U.S.
By Kenneth Branagh
with Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter
International premiere – Out of competition

Eisenstein In Guanajuato
The Netherlands / Mexico / Belgium / Finland
By Peter Greenaway
With Elmer Bäck, Luis Alberti
World premiere

Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano)
Guatemala / France
By Jayro Bustamante
With María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy
World premiere – Debut feature

Disney Releases Trailer for Bonham-Carter’s “Cinderella”

Helena Bonham-Carter is making dreams come true…

Helena Bonham-Carter

Disney has released a new trailer for the Kenneth Branagh-helmed live-action film Cinderella, starring the 48-year-old part-Spanish actress as the fairy godmother.

Downton Abbey‘s Lily James stars in the title role, and Cate Blanchett plays the evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine. Richard Madden stars as the Prince, Derek Jacobi portrays the King, and Stellan Skarsgård is the King’s scheming adviser.

Cinderella opens in theaters on March 13.

Brühl Starring in John Wells’ Culinary Film Project at The Weinstein Company

Something’s cookin’ for Daniel Brühl in Hollywood…

The 36-year-old half-Spanish actor, who earned a SAG Award nomination for his performance in Ron Howard’s Rush, will star in the untitled John Wells-directed culinary project at The Weinstein Company starring Bradley Cooper and Matthew Rhys.

Daniel Brühl

The film centers on Adam Jones, portrayed by Cooper, a two Michelin Star chef in Paris whose ability to create explosions of taste is undermined by his badboy rants and diva behavior that destroy his career. Rhys portrays Reece, who stands in the way of his comeback.

No word yet on Brühl’s character in the film.

The film is shooting in London through September 26.

Harvey Weinstein is trying to come up with the right title after Jon Favreau released Chef, which was the film’s original title.

The film also stars Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman, Riccardo Scarmacio, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Omar Sy, Jamie Dornan, Sam Keeley, Sarah Greene and Alicia Vikander.

Disney’s “Cinderella,” Starring Bonham Carter, Gets March 2015 Release Date

Helena Bonham Carter will be making fairy tales come true in March 2015.

Disney has scheduled its live-action version of Cinderella, which will star the 46-year-old part-Spanish actress as the fairy godmother, for release on March 13, 2015.

Helena Bonham Carter

Along with Bonham Carter, the cast for Cinderella – to be directed by Kenneth Branagh – includes Lily James, Cate Blanchett and Richard Madden.

Bonham Carter is currently filming the BBC drama Burton and Taylor, the latest re-telling of the Richard BurtonElizabeth Taylor romance.

Carter to Portray the Fairy Godmother in Disney’s Live-Action Version of “Cinderella”

Helena Bonham Carter is about to make one princess’ wish come true…

The 46-year-old part-Spanish actress’ has landed the high profile role of the fairy godmother in Disney’s live-action version of Cinderella.

Helena Bonham Carter

Kenneth Branagh is directing the film project, which sees Lily James in the title role, Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and Game of ThronesRichard Madden as the prince.

Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) and Holliday Granger (The Borgias) are set to play the stepsisters.

The fairy godmother will be getting more screen time in this version than in Disney’s classic animated movie, with the character disguised as an old beggar who watches over Cinderella before revealing herself as the magical being she truly is.

Cinderella will be shot this fall in London.

Bonham Carter previously played the Red Queen in another Disney film, 2010’s Alice in Wonderland. She also appears in the studio’s big summer tentpole, The Lone Ranger, which reunites her with Johnny Depp, whom she starred with in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.