Penélope Cruz In Talks to Star in Netflix’s Upcoming Nancy Meyers Film “Paris Paramount” (Working Title)

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Penélope Cruz could be starring in a comedy soon…

The 48-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress is in talks to star opposite Scarlett Johansson, Michael Fassbender and Owen Wilson in the big-budget Netflix comedy marking Nancy Meyers’ return to directing, Deadline can confirm.

Sources say actor deals have not yet closed, as budgeting is still being worked through. Netflix had no comment.

The film currently titled Paris Paramount, which tells the story of an above-the-line filmmaking duo who reunite (begrudgingly) on set after falling in and out of love with one another.

Meyers will direct from her own script and also serve as producer on the film, which sources tell us is at a budget exceeding $100M.

The project will mark her first as director since The Intern, a buddy comedy of sorts starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, which was released by Warner Bros in 2015.

Most recently appearing in films including Emanuele Crialese’s L’immensità, Official Competition with Antonio Banderas, and Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-nominated Parallel Mothers, Cruz will next be seen starring opposite Adam Driver in Michael Mann’s Ferrari.

An Academy Award-nominated writer, director and producer best known for her work in the rom-com space, Meyers has also previously helmed features including It’s Complicated, The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want and The Parent Trap.

New Trailer Released for Rapace’s Sci-Fi Thriller “Alien: Covenant”

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s another day in space for Noomi Rapace…

20th Century Fox has released the new trailer for Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi thriller Alien: Covenant, the latest chapter in the Alien franchise, starring the 37-year-old half-Spanish actress.

The new clip audiences know that “the path to paradise begins in hell,” and begins with Katherine Waterston and the crew aboard the colony ship, Covenant.”

As the team explores undiscovered territory, danger and extraterrestrial species – including Xenomorphs – lurk all around. The sequel to Prometheus follows the team as it heads for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. When the crew thinks it has found uncharted land, it discovers a dark and dangerous world. Uncovering a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Michael Fassbender stars as David, with Rapace reprising her role as Elizabeth Shaw. Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez and Billy Crudup round out the cast.

Scott directs from a script by John Logan and Dante Harper.

Alien: Covenant arrives in theaters on May 19.

First Trailer Released for Rapace’s “Prometheus” Sequel, “Alien: Covenant”

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Noomi Rapace is out of this world again…

After two days of non-stop teasing, the first official trailer for Alien: Covenant, starring the 37-year-old half-Spanish actress, has been released.

While director Ridley Scott technically returned to the Alien franchise with 2012’s Prometheus, that film has only a tangential connection to the main series thanks to some continuity nods and a scene at the end. Covenant however is not, as it picks up where Prometheus left off and (presumably) leads directly to the events of the original Alien.

The story follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, that discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but per usual discoveries it’s actually a dark, dangerous world containing a threat beyond their imagination and, as it happens, the android David (Michael Fassbender), one of the few survivors of the Prometheus mission.

Fassbender, Guy Pearce, and Rapace reprise their Prometheus roles, joined this time out by Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollet, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby, and James Franco.

Jack Paglen, Michael Green, and John Logan wrote the script.

Alien: Covenant hits theaters on May 19.

Bardem to Star in AMC’s “The Son”

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Bardem has landed his first American role…

The 53-year-old Spanish actor has joined the cast of AMC’s The Son.

Based on Philipp Meyer’s acclaimed novel, the film is a multi-generational epic telling of the story of America’s birth as a superpower through the bloody rise and fall of one Texas family.

Production will begin in Austin, Texas in June and the 10 one-hour episodes are set to premiere in 2017.

British director Tom Harper is helming the pilot.

He’ll play the patriarch whose family is the last of the wealthy Spanish aristocracy in South Texas. He’s a proud American, but must walk a careful line between his fellow ranchers and the Mexican radicals who employ terrorist tactics in an effort to drive the Anglos out of the Rio Grande Valley.

Bardem, the brother of Javier Bardem, recently completed work on New Regency’s Assassin’s Creed alongside Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, out later this year.

His past credits include Escobar: Paradise Lost opposite Benicio del Toro and Josh Hutcherson, Che: Part 2 for director Steven Soderbergh, and Scorpion In Love, which he wrote and starred in.

Meyer, Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy wrote the adaptation.

New “X-Men: Apocalypse” Featurette Highlights Isaac’s Villainous Character

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Oscar Isaac has the X factor…

20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment have released a new featurette for next month’s X-Men: Apocalypse that appears to confirm that the 37-year-old Guatemalan and Cuban American actor’s mysterious new villain is definitely the first mutant to walk the Earth. And, it also reveals more about what Isaac’s character can do when he meets other super-powered beings.

“He’s all powerful and he magnifies all of [the Horsemen’s] powers,” Michael Fassbender (Apocalypse‘s Magneto) explains at the opening of the Four Horsemen teaser video. “He’s decided to take judgment on the world, so he’s gathered a team of mutants to wipe out the human race.”

This mission statement helps make sense of Apocalypse’s declaration from the last trailer, repeated at the end of this video: “Everything they’ve built will fall — and from the ashes of their world, we’ll build a better one.” But who is the “we” he’s talking about: mutants, or just his followers?

Knowing that Apocalypse can increase mutants’ powers suggests that the scene where Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) says, “I’ve never felt power like this before…!” — also repeated in this video — could refer to either Xavier responding to Apocalypse’s powers, or having his own powers increased by Apocalypse for some reason.

“They’re very powerful … the whole world is at stake,” adds Olivia Munn, who plays another of the Horsemen, Psylocke.

Jonás Cuarón Earns His First BAFTA Awards Nomination

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Like father, like son…

Jonás Cuarón, the son of Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, has earned his first BAFTA Awards nomination.

The Mexican filmmaker has been nominated with his father in the original screenplay category, for writing their blockbuster hit Gravity.

It’s one of the whopping 11 nominations the 3D sci-fi film earned from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, including Best Film and Best British Film.

Cuarón’s father also earned a Best Editing and Best Director nod, the latest nomination in that category for one of Entertainment Weekly’s 2013 Entertainers of the Year. He’s up against 12 Years A Slave’s Steve McQueen, American Hustle’s David O. Russell, Captain Phillips’ Paul Greengrass and The Wolf Of Wall Street’s Martin Scorsese in the director field.

Meantime, Cuarón’s longtime collaborator, Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, earned a Best Cinematography nod for his work on Gravity.

Lastly, Rush star Daniel Brühl continues to earn awards recognition for portraying real-life racing legend Niki Lauda in Ron Howard‘s Formula One racing drama. Following his SAG Award and Golden Globe nods, the 35-year-old half-Spanish actor will take on Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra), Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave) and Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) in the race for the best supporting actor trophy.

The British Academy Film Awards will take place on February 16 at the Royal Opera House in London, with the ceremony broadcast exclusively on BBC One in the U.K. and in all major territories around the world.

Here’s the complete list of BAFTA nominations:

BEST FILM
12 YEARS A SLAVE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
GRAVITY
PHILOMENA

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
GRAVITY
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
PHILOMENA
RUSH
SAVING MR. BANKS
THE SELFISH GIANT

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
COLIN CARBERRY (Writer), GLENN PATTERSON (Writer) Good Vibrations
KELLY MARCEL (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
KIERAN EVANS (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
PAUL WRIGHT (Director/Writer), POLLY STOKES (Producer) For Those in Peril
SCOTT GRAHAM (Director/Writer) Shell

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR Abdellatif Kechiche, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval
THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
METRO MANILA Sean Ellis, Mathilde Charpentier
WADJDA Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

DOCUMENTARY
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer
THE ARMSTRONG LIE Alex Gibney
BLACKFISH Gabriela Cowperthwaite
TIM’S VERMEER Teller,Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS Alex Ginny

ANIMATED FILM
DESPICABLE ME 2 Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
FROZEN Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Dan Scanlon

DIRECTOR
12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen
AMERICAN HUSTLE David O. Russell
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Paul Greengrass
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
NEBRASKA Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Richard LaGravenese
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray
PHILOMENA Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter

LEADING ACTOR
BRUCE DERN Nebraska
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR 12 Years a Slave
CHRISTIAN BALE American Hustle
LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Wolf of Wall Street
TOM HANKS Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS American Hustle
CATE BLANCHETT Blue Jasmine
EMMA THOMPSON Saving Mr. Banks
JUDI DENCH Philomena
SANDRA BULLOCK Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR
BARKHAD ABDI Captain Phillips
BRADLEY COOPER American Hustle
DANIEL BRÜHL Rush
MATT DAMON Behind the Candelabra
MICHAEL FASSBENDER 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
JENNIFER LAWRENCE American Hustle
JULIA ROBERTS August: Osage County
LUPITA NYONG’O 12 Years a Slave
OPRAH WINFREY The Butler
SALLY HAWKINS Blue Jasmine

ORIGINAL MUSIC
12 YEARS A SLAVE Hans Zimmer
THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Henry Jackman
GRAVITY Steven Price
SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Barry Ackroyd
GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael

EDITING
12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
RUSH Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN
12 YEARS A SLAVE Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
AMERICAN HUSTLE Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Howard Cummings
GRAVITY Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

COSTUME DESIGN
AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Ellen Mirojnick
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O’Connor
SAVING MR. BANKS Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR
AMERICAN HUSTLE Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
THE BUTLER Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
THE GREAT GATSBY Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Find later

SOUND
ALL IS LOST Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor,Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney
GRAVITY Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
GRAVITY Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
IRON MAN 3 Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
PACIFIC RIM Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyed

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
EVERYTHING I CAN SEE FROM HERE Bjorn-Erik Aschim, Friederike Nicolaus, Sam Taylor
I AM TOM MOODY Ainslie Henderson
SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa

BRITISH SHORT FILM
ISLAND QUEEN Ben Mallaby, Nat Luurtsema
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Megan Rubens, Michael Pearce, Selina Lim
ORBIT EVER AFTER Chee-Lan Chan, Jamie Stone, Len Rowles
ROOM 8 James W. Griffiths, Sophie Venner
SEA VIEW Anna Duffield, Jane Linfoo

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANE DEHAAN
GEORGE MACKAY
LUPITA NYONG’O
WILL POULTER
LÉA SEYDOUX

First International Trailer Released for “The Counselor,” Featuring Penelope Cruz

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Penélope Cruz is bedding a counselor…

The 39-year-old Spanish actress, who recently gave birth to her second child with husband Javier Bardem, makes an appearance in the first international trailer for Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.

From 20th Century Fox UK, the trailer gives the longest glimpse at the film’s plot so far and includes a bit more on the story.

Michael Fassbender leads the film’s all-star cast, portraying a lawyer who gets in over his head when he enters the drug trade.

Along with Cruz and Fassbender, the film’s cast includes Brad Pitt, Bardem and Cameron Diaz.

The film will be released in the US on October 25 and in the United Kingdom on November 15.

Cruz Gives Birth to Second Child with Javier Bardem

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Penélope Cruz and husband Javier Bardem will be pulling double duty from now on.

The 39-year-old Spanish actress and the 44-year-old Spanish actor welcomed their second child, a daughter, on Monday.

Cruz gave birth at Madrid’s Ruber International hospital just to the north of the city, where Spain’s Crown Princess Letizia gave birth to her two daughters, a hospital source said.

“The couple checked in yesterday and she gave birth yesterday,” the source told AFP without specifying the gender of the baby.

Cruz gave birth to a girl “just a few hours” after Kate Middleton welcomed her little boy in St Mary’s Hospital in London on Monday, according to the online edition of Spanish celebrity magazine Hola!.

The new arrival is the couple’s second child. They are already parents to two-year-old son Leonardo, who was born at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles in 2011.

Cruz and Bardem met when they starred opposite each other in Bigas Luna‘s film Jamon, Jamon back in 1992.

In 2008, they were back together on the silver screen in Woody Allen‘s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which Cruz won an Academy Award as best supporting actress.

Bardem, nominated for an Oscar in Before Night Falls, won an Academy Award in 2007 for his role in No Country for Old Men.

The couple married in July 2010 at a ceremony in the Bahamas after keeping their romance quiet for years.

Both Bardem and Cruz star in Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, a high-profile autumn release written by Scott and also featuring Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Michael Fassbender.

International Trailer Released for the Diaz-Starrer “The Counselor”

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Cameron Diaz is getting counseled, in haute style no less…

The 40-year-old half-Cuban American dons some serious attire in the just-released international trailer for Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.

The Counselor follows a lawyer (portrayed by Michael Fassbender) who wades into treacherous waters when he gets involved in the drug trade.

Along with Diaz and Fassbender, the thriller – written by No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy also stars Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, John Leguizamo and Goran Visnjic.

The Counselor will be released in the UK on October 25:

Bardem Lands Roles in “A Most Violent Year” and “The Gunman”

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Javier Bardem has landed two killer roles…

The 44-year-old Spanish actor will star in J.C. Chandor’s next film, A Most Violent Year, which will shoot in Manhattan this fall.

Unlike his critically acclaimed roles in No Country for Old Men and Skyfall, Bardem will play a good guy in the film.

A Most Violent Year was written by Chandor.

Meanwhile, Bardem has also signed on to go mano a mano with Sean Penn in The Gunman.

The film is being directed by Pierre Morel and financed by Studio Canal.

Bardem excels in these types of films, winning the Oscar for No Country For Old Men, and most recently playing the existentially tortured villain who squared off against James Bond in Skyfall.

He’ll next be seen in the Ridley Scott-directed The Counselor, opposite Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and his wife Penelope Cruz.

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