America Ferrera to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s Oscars

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Win or lose, America Ferrera will be taking the Oscars stage…

The 39-year-old Honduran American actress, who earned her first-ever Academy Awards nod this year for her performance in Barbie, will serve as a presenter at Sunday’s Oscars.

She’s part of a roster of new presenters that includes Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, Sally Field, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz and Forest Whitaker.

They join previous announced presenters Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, Rita Moreno, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer and Ramy Youssef, Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Yeoh and Zendaya.

The Oscars will be broadcast live on March 10 ceremony from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the ceremony for a fourth time.

ABC, which has aired the Oscars since 1976, is televising the show live starting at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT — an hour earlier that usual. The network, which has begun to use the Oscars as a lead-out to showcase its top programming, will follow its coverage of the live ceremony with an original episode of Abbott Elementary.

ABC’s time tweak also means that its annual pre-show will now run for 30 minutes — instead of the usual 90 — beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. As per usual, the main Oscar telecast will be rebroadcast in the Pacific Time zone in primetime after the live presentation.

Raj Kapoor will serve as showrunner and executive producer of the 96th Oscars, with Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan executive producers. Hamish Hamilton is directing.

Andy Garcia Returning for “Book Club 2 – The Next Chapter”

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Andy Garcia is heading back to book club…

The 66-year-old Cuban actor will star opposite Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Don Johnson and Craig T. Nelson in Book Club 2, which has entered production in Italy.

Garcia and his cast mates will reprise their roles from the original film, Book Club, with Giancarlo Giannini, Hugh Quarshie and Vincent Riotta joining the sequel as new cast members.

The original 2018 film followed four lifelong friends—played by Keaton, Fonda, Bergen and Steenburgen—whose lives were forever changed after reading 50 Shades of Grey in their monthly book club. Paramount Pictures released it in May of 2018 and saw it gross upwards of $104M worldwide against its $14M budget.

The sequel will follow our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

Bill Holderman has returned as director, having once again penned the script with Erin Simms.

Endeavor Content is financing and producing Book Club 2 – The Next Chapter, with Holderman and Simms also aboard as producers.

Focus Features will distribute the film in the U.S., with Universal Pictures International distributing it internationally.

Garcia will next star in Father of the Bride.

Hulu Releases Trailer for Aubrey Plaza’s Holiday-Themed Rom-Com “Happiest Season”

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Aubrey Plaza is ready to ring in the holiday season…

Hulu has released the first trailer for Happiest Season, a holiday-themed romantic comedy starring the 36-year-old actress/comedian and former Parks and Recreation star.

“This is why I avoid Christmas — it brings out the worst in everything,” says the trailer for the film, which also stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis.

Here’s the logline: Meeting your girlfriend’s family for the first time can be tough. Planning to propose at her family’s annual Christmas dinner — until you realize that they don’t even know she’s gay — is even harder. When Abby (Stewart) learns that Harper (Davis) has kept their relationship a secret from her family, she begins to question the girlfriend she thought she knew.

Plaza, Stewart and Davis are joined by Alison Brie, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Burl Moseley, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen in a film that captures the range of emotions tied to wanting your family’s acceptance, being true to yourself and trying not to ruin Christmas.

Sample dialogue: “I’m scared that if I tell them who I really am that I will lose them,” Harper tells Abby. “Do you know how painful it is to watch the person I love hide me?” she replies. Harper: “I’m not hiding you — I’m hiding me.”

Clea DuVall directs from a script she wrote with Mary Holland.

Hulu will premiere the holiday rom-com on Wednesday, November 25 — the day before Thanksgiving.

Aubrey Plaza to Star in the Romantic Comedy “Happiest Season”

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Aubrey Plaza has found her Happiest place…

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Parks and Recreation alum has joined the cast of the TriStar Pictures and Entertainment One romantic comedy Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis.

Plaza joins a list of newcomers that includes Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Alison Brieand Dan Levy.

Directed and co-written by Clea DuVall, and co-written by Mary Holland, Happiest Season follows a young woman (Stewart) whose plan to propose to her girlfriend (Davis) while at her family’s annual holiday party is upended when she discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents (played by Steenburgen and Garber).

The film is set to hit theaters on November 20. eOne will distribute the film in UK and Canada.

Filming is currently underway in Pittsburgh, PA.

Plaza’s film credits include Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Monsters University,Dirty Grandpa, Ingrid Goes West and Child’s Play.

Fox Renews Mel Rodriguez’s “The Last Man on Earth” for Fourth Season

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Mel Rodriguez is back on Earth for another season…

Fox has renewed its comedy series The Last Man on Earth, starring the 43-year-old Latino actor, for a fourth season.

Last Man On Earth, a comedy about the life and adventures of the last man on the planet, was created by Will Forte, who stars alongside Kristen Schaal, January Jones, Rodriguez, who portrays Tony, Mary Steenburgen and Cleopatra Coleman.

Forte, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Seth Cohen, Andrew Bobrow and Erik Durbin executive produce.

Armisen to Star in the HBO Original Comedy Film “7 Days in Hell”

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Fred Armisen has landed a Hell of a role…

The 47-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and former Saturday Night Live star has landed a role in HBO’s original comedy movie 7 Days in Hell, starring Armisen’s former SNL cast mate Andy Samberg and Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington.

Based on an original concept by Murray Miller, who wrote the screenplay, and Samberg, the sports mockumentary centers on two fierce tennis rivals in an epic, seven-day match at 2004 Wimbledon.

The location is hardly random — the longest tennis match on record was held on Court 18 at Wimbledon during the 2010 championships when John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled it out for 11 hours over three days, with the American ultimately clinching a victory, 70-68 in the fifth set.

In addition to Samberg, Harington and Armisen, the all-star cast includes Lena Dunham, Will Forte, Karen Gillan, Howie Mandel, Michael Sheen, Mary Steenburgen and June Squibb. Additionally, broadcast journalist

Soledad O’Brien will appear in the HBO movie as herself.

Based on breakdowns reported by Deadline.com, Samberg’s character, named Aaron Williams, is tennis’ superstar bad boy, while Harington’s character, named Charles Poole, is channeling Andy Murray, a tennis prodigy and certified truck driver.

Adding to their rivalry is Gillan’s supermodel Lily, Charles’ childhood friend who made a sex tape with Aaron. Steenburgen plays Charles’ psychotic and controlling mother, while Forte plays a tennis historian.

Jake Szymanski is set to direct the film.

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