Macarena Achaga to Star in Season Two of Netflix & Gato Grande’s “Luis Miguel: The Series”

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Macarena Achaga is joining El Sol de Mexico’s entourage…

The 28-year-old Argentine actress/model has joined the cast of Netflix and MGM’s Gato Grande’s popular Spanish-language show Luis Miguel: The Series for the upcoming second season, which is currently taping after being delayed earlier this year due to the pandemic.

In addition to Achaga, who will portray Michelle, new additions to the cast include Fernando Guallar as Mauricio Ambrosi, Pablo Cruz Guerrero as Patricio Robles, Juan Ignacio Cane as José Pérez, Teresa Ruiz as Azucena, Valery Sais as young Michelle, and Axel Llunas as young Sergio Basteri.

They join previously announced Diego Boneta, Camila Sodi, Cesar Bordon, Juan Pablo Zurita, Cesar Santana, Martin Bello, Lola Casamayor, Pilar Santacruz, Kevin Holt and Gabriel Nuncio.

The story, told in two different timelines, will explore the difficulties of balancing Luis Miguel’s family and professional life. It’s due to launch on Netflix next year. Sources say a third season is in the works, but the streamer hasn’t confirmed the news yet.

Directed by Humberto Hinojosa and Adrian Grunberg, scripts come from Daniel Krauze, Ana Sofia Clerici, Anton Goenechea, Diego Ayala, Karin Valecillos and Paulina Barros.

Mark Burnett, Carla González Vargas and Pablo Cruz are executive producers, with Carolina Leconte and Jaime Ramos producers.

Achaga was recently seen in Amazon series El Candidato. She is known in Latin America as a former band member of Mexican-Argentine pop group Eme 15 and for roles in series including Gossip Girl: Acapulco. Her breakout role came in the Televisa soap Amar A Muerte, where she featured in one of the first significant lesbian storylines in primetime Mexican television. Her character was then spun off into 2019 miniseries Juliantina.

Rodriguez Being Courted to Star in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Miss Bala” Remake

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez may have found her next crowning project…

Catherine Hardwicke is in talks to direct Miss Bala, the remake of the Mexican film co-written and directed by Gerardo Naranjo, with the 32-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star being courted for the leading role.

Miss Bala, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film, centers on a beauty pageant contestant who witnesses the brutality of a drug gang and is dragged into their dangerous business.

Kevin Misher and Pablo Cruz are producing, Andy Berman is executive producer. Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer is adapting the script by Naranjo and Mauricio Katz.

Rodriguez, who earned a Golden Globe for her performance in Jane the Virgin, rose to acclaim after starring the indie film Filly Brown. Her other film roles include Deepwater Horizon and Enter the Dangerous Mind.

Luna Launches Branded Entertainment Studio, Gloria

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s all guts and Gloria for Diego Luna…

The 35-year-old Mexican actor/director/producer and his business partners Pablo Cruz and Eric Bonniot have officially launched the branded entertainment studio, Gloria.

Luna and Cruz, along with Gael Garcia Bernal, are also co-founders of the Mexican production and distribution company Canana.

Based in Los Angeles and Mexico City, Gloria is working on projects in both English- and Spanish-speaking markets.

“The Latino community is hugely influential and we want to work with brands to tell stories that are relevant and real,” said Luna, who was recently cast in Star Wars: Rogue One.

Gloria’s upcoming projects include a feature-length branded documentary and it is currently in production on a six-part web series for Mexico’s largest department store chain.

Among the talent working with Gloria are Gravity co-writer Jonas Cuaron and Alonso Ruizpalacios, the award-winning director of Gueros.

As for Luna, has had a busy year so far. Along with being cast in Star Wars: Rogue One, he directed the Danny Glover–Maya Rudolph road movie Mr. Pig.

Garcia Bernal to Direct His Second Feature Film, “Chicuarotes”

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Gael Garcia Bernal is ready to head back behind the camera…

The 36-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer will helm a “very dark comedy” titled Chicuarotes.

The film is set amid the lakes in Mexico City and centers around teens who “want to become economically superior to what they are,” he said during the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event dedicated to nurturing emerging Arab filmmakers.

Bernal said his sophomore feature, which follows his 2007 directorial debut Deficit, is being written by Mexican scribe Augusto Mendoza, who co-penned Diego Luna’s feature film debut Abel and Luna’s upcoming Mr. Pig.

Bernal and Luna are partners in Canana, the Mexico City/L.A. production house Luna founded with Bernal and Pablo Cruz and which has become a powerhouse producer for a new generation of Mexican helmers.

“All I can say in a broad way is it’s about kids and that the lake is a paradise; it’s an incredible place with the axolotl,” said Garcia Bernal. The axolotl is an odd-looking ancient salamander with a flat head and spiked feet.

“It’s paradise but these teens want to buy into the whole narrative of progress; to be economically superior to what they are. It’s ridiculous what we go through as humans to become richer,” Garcia Bernal mused.

He’s developing it through Canana with plans to start shooting next year.

During the Doha masterclass in Doha Bernal called his experience directing Deficit, which is a drama about an upper-class Mexican brat, an experiment that just didn’t happen.” He added: “but it gave me a strong sense of vengeance. I want to direct a film next year, one way or another.” Since Deficit Bernal has shot five shorts.

Luna & Garcia Bernal Partner with A&E to Bring Mexican Medical Drama “Niño Santo” to the U.S.

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal may soon have their first American television series.

A&E Network has teamed up with the Mexican actors/filmmakers and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV for Niño Santo, based on the Mexican spiritual medical drama series executive-produced by Luna and Garcia Bernal.

The project has been put in fast-track development with an order for multiple scripts. A+E Studios is producing with Amblin TV and the original show’s producer Canana.

Niño Santo centers on a group of young doctors who are sent to vaccinate the locals in a remote village, where they encounter an unusual cult headed by an enigmatic faith healer. The curiosity of the doctors leads them to become involved with this group in the name of science. As they witness Niño’s “miracles,” they begin to weigh scientific impossibility against the possibility of faith.

The creative and producing team of the original series will be involved in the adaptation. Mauricio Katz and Pedro Peirano, who created the Mexican series with Pablo Cruz, will write the script.

“We are in constant pursuit of projects featuring great characters, compelling drama and the outstanding storytelling uniquely suited to the A&E brand, and Niño Santo fits all of those criteria,” said A&E EVP and General Manager David McKillop. “What sets this apart from other format adaptations is that we have the original creative team in place guiding the process to ensure their authentic vision remains intact for the American audience.”

Participant Media Lands the Rights to Luna’s Cesar Chavez Biopic

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Diego Luna’s biopic on Latino labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez will be making its way to theaters in North America…

Participant Media has landed all North American rights to Chavez, which is being directed by the 32-year-old Mexican actor.

Based on a script by Hotel Rwanda scribe Keir Pearson, the film stars Michael Peña as the highly celebrated Mexican American labor organizer.

The biopic focuses on Chavez’s work organizing the largest non-violent protest in U.S. history to aid more than 50,000 farm workers in California.

Luna’s Canana Films is producing the biopic, currently filming in Sonora, Mexico, and co-starring America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, Wes Bentley, Michael Cudlitz and Gabriel Mann.

Canana principals Pablo Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal (who makes a cameo appearance in the film) and Luna are producing with John Malkovich (who stars as Bogdanovich, one of Chavez’s key adversaries.

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