Saldaña Producing Documentary “Gone Missing”

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Zoe Saldaña is shining a spotlight on an epidemic affecting indigenous women in Canada…

The 37-year-old half-Dominican/half-Puerto Rican American actress and her sisters’ production company, Cinestar Pictures, is partnering with producer-director Leslie Owen and her Owen Media Group to produce Gone Missing, a documentary that will explore the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls of Canada.

Owen says there are more than 4,000 documented cases of women and girls who’ve disappeared or have been murdered across Canada during the past three decades.

The documentary will ask why this happens and what is being done to investigate and prevent the crimes.

It’ll follow three key stories and feature voices of family members of the missing and murdered along with politicians and community leaders.

Cinestar is in the second year of a first-look deal with South Shore Television and Pantelion Films, the U.S. joint ventures of Grupo Televisa and Lionsgate.

The pic is currently in production.

Derbez to Star in Pantelion Films’ “How to Be a Latin Lover”

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez is looking for a sugar mama…

The 54-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer will star in the comedy How to Be a Latin Lover for Lionsgate’s Pantelion Films label.

Derbez will star opposite Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch and Rob Riggle in the film, which will be directed by Ken Marino.

The film centers on an aging Latin lover who gets dumped by his sugar mama and is forced to return to live with his estranged sister and her preteen son in their humble home. Sporting a wardrobe consisting mostly of Versace speedos, the man focuses on finding himself another sugar mama to support his expensive tastes.

Other actors who have also joined are Renee Taylor, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins and Linda Lavin.

Lowe plays a jaded, legendary gigolo who is a “Yoda-like” source of war stories.

Written by Chris Spain and Jon Zack, the comedy is said to be in the vein of Bad Teacher.

The film is a joint venture between Derbez’s 3Pas Studios, Pantelion Films, Lionsgate and Televisa Cine. The project not only marks Derbez’s first English-language starring role, but is also 3Pas Studio’s first film under its first-look deal with Pantelion.

The project is now before the cameras.

Cuarón to Write and Direct a New Take on “Zorro”

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jonás Cuarón is bringing a fictional Latino hero back to life…

The 34-year-old Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter and son of Alfonso Cuarón has been tapped to write and direct a new take on Zorro.

The film, titled Z, will be produced by Lantica Media and Sobini Films, and principal photography is set to start in the summer at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios.

Cuarón co-penned Gravity with his father. He recently wrote directed the Toronto International Film Festival film Desierto, which won the Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations.

Lantica will finance, and Pantelion Films will handle international sales. The title will be up for grabs European Film Market in Berlin this month.

Derbez to Star in Sony Pictures’ “Miracles From Heaven”

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez has landed a miracle role…

The 53-year-old Mexican actor and director has joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ Miracles From Heaven, which will be released via TriStar Pictures.

The film, starring Jennifer Garner, Martin Hendersen and Queen Latifah, will be directed by fellow Mexico compatriot Patricia Riggen.

Written by Randy Brown, adapting Cristy Beam’s same-titled book, the faith-based Miracles From Heaven centers on a young girl suffering from a rare digestive disorder who is miraculously cured after suffering a terrible accident.

Derbez will play an eminent but simpatico U.S.-based Mexican gastroenterologist-pediatrician, who plays games with his child patients to lighten their experience of hospital treatment.

Derbez’s character is inspired by Boston Children’s Hospital specialist Dr. Samuel Nurko, he said.

Derbez joins the Miracles From Heaven Atlanta shoot next week.

Miracles From Heaven reunites Riggen and Derbez, who co-starred in Riggen’s 2008 U.S. breakthrough Under the Same Moon, which grossed $12.6 million for the Weinstein Company.

This is a relatively rare drama outing for Derbez, who has carved out a career in comedy, breaking through with comedy-drama Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever in North America, with a $44.5 million box office trawl. It went on to become the biggest Mexican hit ever in Mexico, punching $46.1 million.

Derbez is currently advancing on three projects at his production label 3pas Studios, which has a first-look deal with Pantelion Films, the Lionsgate–Televisa joint U.S. distribution venture.

“The projects have a lot to do with my personality,” Derbez said.

Derbez is set to direct and star in a remake of Argentine hit Chinese Take-Out, a cross-the-cultural-tracks buddy movie about a cantankerous Argentine hardware store owner and an adrift Chinese immigrant. Derbez regular co-scribe Eduardo Cisneros is writing the screenplay. The Argentine would become an American.

3pas Studios is also developing an English-language remake of 2006 French comedy Le Valet. Derbez’s next actor-director gig looks like one of these two projects. “Le Valet” is also at screenplay stage.

A third 3pas Studios project is an Untitled Latin Lover Project, from an original screenplay by Chris Spain and Jon Zack, about an aging Latin lover suddenly thrown out by his wife and forced to get a real job.

Derbez runs 3pas Studios with former Pantelion Films production chief Ben Odell.

Mendez Signs with Paradigm

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a paradigm shift for Luis Gerardo Mendez…

The 32-year-old Mexican actor, considered one of his country’s fastest-rising stars, has signed with entertainment talent agency Paradigm.

As part of the deal, which was announced at the third edition of the Los Cabos International Film Festival, Mendez will be represented in all areas.

Mendes gained acclaim and a strong fan following after his performance as the partying son of a supposedly bankrupt millionaire in Gaz Alazraki’s Nosotros los nobles/

He most recently appeared in Sebastian del Amo’s Cantinflas, Mexico’s foreign-language Oscar entry.

Nobles became Mexico’s highest-grossing movie ever in early 2013, taking in $28 million for distributor Warner Bros., while Cantinflas, released by Pantelion Films, is the biggest foreign-language hit so far this year in the U.S. with a $6.4 million gross.

Mendez is the star, co-creator and exec producer of Netflix’s first Spanish-language original series, Los Escorpiones, which will go into production in three weeks, scheduled for a 2015 bow. The series is helmed by Alazraki.

Mendez is also attached to star in Fox International Productions’ The Brothers Huffington-Fynne, a comedy originally developed for Sascha Baron Cohen. He’ll play four roles in the film.

Mendez is also the face of Pepsi in Mexico.

Mexico Selects del Amo’s “Cantinflas” as its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Submission

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Sebastián del Amo is one step closer to a possible Academy Award nomination…

The Mexican filmmaker’s second feature film Cantinflas has been named by Mexico as its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission, just in time for the film’s theatrical push into Mexico and Latin America this month.

The biopic about famed Mexican comedian Mario Moreno aka Cantinflas was released by Pantelion Films in the United States on August 29 and has grossed $5 million stateside in 400 theaters.

del Amo co-wrote the script with Edui Tijerina.

Óscar Jaenada (The Losers, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) stars opposite Michael Imperioli in the tale of the oddly mustachioed icon who rose from humble beginnings, earned the nickname “The Charlie Chaplin of Mexico,” and helped launch the country’s golden age of cinema.

Pantelion has been pushing Cantinflas hard for months, attaching its trailer to screenings of studio blockbusters and marketing to multigenerational Latino audiences.

The film opens in Mexico on September 16 via Videocine Distribucion and will be released in 14 Latin American countries during the next few months.

Mexico’s most recent submissions to earn an Oscar nomination were Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful in 2010 and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006.

Derbez Developing a Remake of the French Film “The Valet”

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez is ready for a makeover…

The 53-year-old Mexican comedian, actor, writer and filmmaker, who recently inked a first look deal with Pantelion Films, is developing a remake of the French film The Valet.

The film, written and directed by Francis Veber, was released in 2006 and grossed $29 million worldwide.

The story centers on a parking valet and a top model who have to pretend to be a couple in order to salvage a CEO’s marriage.

The Valet is the first project under his new agreement with Pantelion Films, a deal that underscores the high stakes of reaching the coveted Hispanic moviegoing audience — a fast-growing demographic at the box office.

Derbez starred in and directed Pantelion’s hit Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. at $44 million. The film grossed another $55 million outside the U.S.

“Pantelion and Televisa can reach my core fan base better than anyone and, with the distribution expertise and brand recognition of Lionsgate, I know we can build on the crossover audience that we began to reach with Instructions,” said Derbez.

Derbez also starred in 2007’s Under the Same Moon, which took in about half of its $23 million worldwide in the U.S.

Pantelion, a partnership between Lionsgate and Mexican media conglom Grupo Televisa, made the deal with Derbez’s newly-launched 3Pas Studios production company. 3Pas, a partnership with former Pantelion President of Production Benjamin Odell, will focus on Spanish and English-language films targeting Latino and crossover audiences in the U.S.

Derbez Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal with Pantelion Films

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez is ready to make more crossover films… And, he now has the support to produce them.

The 53-year-old Mexican writer, director and star of the hit Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Lionsgate/Grupo Televisa’s Pantelion Films.

The pact keeps Derbez in business with the label that released his record-setting Spanish-language film last year.

The deal was made via Derbez’s newly launched 3PasStudios, a partnership with former Pantelion president of production Benjamin Odell. 3Pas will focus on Spanish- and English-language films targeted at Latino and crossover audiences in the U.S.

Instructions Not Included became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. when it opened last year. Pantelion also is behind biopic Cantinflas which has pulled in $3.6M since it opened last weekend in 382 theaters.

Derbez’s film credits include Under The Same Moon, also among the highest-grossing Spanish language films released in the U.S.

He and Odell first worked together on Sangre de Mi Sangre in 2006, starring Derbez, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and for which Odell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Odell also produced Pantelion’s 2012 release Girl In Progress, starring Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette and Derbez, and he is producing Pantelion’s upcoming drama Spare Parts, starring Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis and George Lopez, scheduled for release on January 16, 2015.

Pantelion Films Opening the Bio-Drama “Cantinflas,” Starring Jaenada, in Theaters This Weekend

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Óscar Jaenada is ready to bring the Charlie Chaplin of Mexico to life in U.S. theaters this weekend…

The 39-year-old Spanish actor is starring as the late, great Mexican actor Cantinflas in the Spanish-language bio-drama of the same name.

Written and directed by Sebastian del Amo, Cantinflas is an “untold story” from his humble beginnings to Hollywood and international stardom. Pantelion Films is betting on the enduring popularity of late Mexican actor, whose real name is Mario Moreno, as it brings the title to primarily Latino U.S. audiences this weekend

“We began our discussions with the film’s producers about a year ago,” said Pantelion’s Edward Allen. “Cantinflas as a character has no comparison in America. Unlike American actors [of his generation] Cantinflas is still a part of regular viewing for people of Latin American descent. They see him here all the time through sources like Telemundo and Univision. He appeals across generations.”

From the mid-1930s up until his death in 1993, Cantinflas was Mexico’s most beloved and iconic comedian. He starred in dozens of movies in his native country, often playing impoverished campesinos, before his Hollywood debut. He became known to U.S. audiences for his award-winning role in 1956’s Around the World in 80 Days.

Last year Pantelion hit box office gold with Instructions Not Included. The comedy grossed $44 million, the most of any Spanish-language title in the States. It will go after a similar audience with Cantinflas partnering with Spanish-language media in the U.S. and some non-media partners to spread the word.

“We are doing grass-roots marketing, partnering with supermarkets that cater to Latin American [clientele],” added Allen. “In L.A. we’re doing an outdoor campaign, but also saturating Spanish-language media across all channels.”

Instructions Not Included opened in 348 theaters grossing $7.84 million on August 30, nearly one year ago. It is clearly taking a cue from that successful roll out with a similar strategy with Cantinflas opening in over 380 theaters around the country.

“It will mirror the Latino population across the country,” added Allen. “We will expand based on performance and adjust the plan accordingly.”

In addition to Jaenada, the film also stars Michael Imperioli, Ilse Salas, Bárbara Mori, Ana Layevska and Adal Ramones.

Derbez’s “Instructions Not Included” Makes U.S. Box Office History

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Sure, he may be a star in Mexico… But Eugenio Derbez is now making box office history in the United States…

The 52-year-old Mexican actor’s latest film Instructions Not Included, released by Pantelion Films, has become the highest grossing Spanish Language film ever released in the U.S., according to the film’s distributor Lionsgate.

With this weekend’s box office estimate of $3.38 million, the breakout family dramedy has earned $38.567M in its fifth weekend at the American box office.

Starring and directed by Derbez, the film has surpassed Pan’s Labyrinth’s $37.6M to become the new record holder.

It’s also the fourth biggest grossing foreign language film ever in the U.S., behind only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan), Life is Beautiful (Italy) and Hero (China).

Word of mouth spread for Instructions Not Included due to a strong ‘A+’ CinemaScore, and the film expanded its U.S. run to target crossover audiences.

Made for only $5M, the film centers on a man (Derbez) who has made a new life for himself and the daughter left on his doorstep six years ago. His family life finds is threatened when the birth mother resurfaces.

The film was the big story coming out of Labor Day weekend for the best-ever domestic debut for a Spanish language film.

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