Ana De Armas to Star in the Action-Thriller “Three Seconds”

It’s a matter of seconds for Ana De Armas

The 29-year-old Cuban actress has landed a role in Andrea Di Stefano’s Three Seconds, based on the best-selling Swedish novel by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström.

Ana De Armas

She joins a cast that includes Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common and Clive Owen.

The action-thriller was written by Matt Cook, with revisions by Rowan Joffé and current revisions by DiStefano.

The story follows reformed criminal and former Special Ops soldier Pete Hoffman who, in order to free himself from jail and return to his wife and daughter, has been working undercover for crooked FBI handlers to infiltrate the Polish mob’s drug trade in New York. In a final step toward freedom, Hoffman must return to the one place he’s fought so hard to leave: Bale Hill Prison, where his mission becomes a race against time when a drug deal goes wrong and threatens his identity as a mole.

De Armas will play Hoffman’s wife, Sofia, a small-businesswoman who owns a grocery store. She most recently was seen in Hands of Stone with Edgar Ramirez and Robert De Niro, and War Dogs with Jonah Hill and Miles Teller.

She’ll next appear in Blade Runner 2049 with Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, which will bow in the U.S. on October 6 via Warner Bros.

Larrain’s “Jackie” Joins the Film Slate at This Year’s AFI Fest

Pablo Larraín’s latest film will get the AFI Fest treatment…

The 40-year-old Chilean director’s latest film Jackie has joined the American Film Institute’s slate of AFI Centerpiece Galas at this year’s AFI Fest.

Pablo Larraín

From Fox Searchlight and starring Oscar winner Natalie Portman, the film will screen on Monday, November 14, at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Jackie, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, is an intimate portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, which takes us into the iconic First Lady’s world during the difficult days immediately following her husband’s assassination.

Jackie

Noah Oppenheim penned the screenplay.

In addition to Portman, the film stars Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup and Oscar nominee John Hurt. 

Jackie joins previously announced Mike Mills-directed 20th Century Women; Elle directed by Paul Verhoeven; and Damien Chazelle-helmed La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

The AFI Fest runs from November 10-17.

de Armas to Star in “Blade Runner” Sequel

Ana de Armas is extending her Hollywood Run(ner)

The 27-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress has joined the cast of Alcon Entertainment’s upcoming Blade Runner sequel.

Ana de Armas

de Armas’ role has yet been revealed.

The untitled Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to the 1982 film sees Harrison Ford returning, joined by Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright and Dave Bautista.

It hits theaters October 6, 2017.

de Armas will soon star opposite Edgar Ramirez in Hands of Stone.

Smollett to Star in Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant”

There’s an out of this world opportunity for Jussie Smollett

The 32-year-old Brazilian American actor/singer has joined the cast of Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant as producers round out the main cast ahead of production, which is now being eyed to start next month.

Jussie Smollett

Smollett joins a list of new additions to the cast that includes Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo and Callie Hernandez. They join previously announced cast members Micahel Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Demian Bichir and Danny McBride.

Plot details are mostly under wraps for what is the second of the planned three films at 20th Century Fox acting as a prequel trilogy to Scott’s Alien movies. Only Fassbender is confirmed to reprise his character from 2012’s Prometheus; it remains unclear whether Noomi Rapace will return.

Smollett plays Jamal Lyon on Fox’s hit primetime soap Empire, which is in the middle of its second season.

Meanwhile, Hernandez, who starred in Machete Kills, recently wrapped shooting Damien Chazelle’s La La Land at Lionsgate opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

Netflix Gives Gomez’s “13 Reasons Why” a Straight-to-Series Order

Selena Gomez is going behind the scenes for her next project…

Netflix has given Anonymous Content and Paramount Television’s 13 Reasons Why, executive produced by the 23-year-old half-Mexican American actress/singer, a straight-to-series order.

Selena Gomez

The show, based on the New York Times bestselling Young Adult (YA) book by Jay Asher, was created by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Brian Yorkey, who also wrote the pilot.

13 Reasons Why is the second Netflix straight to order series for Anonymous Content. The first is the Plan B collaboration The OA, which goes into production next quarter.

Gomez recently wrapped four films: In Dubious Battle, directed by James FrancoThe Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, alongside Paul RuddThe Big Short, starring Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale; and Seth Rogen’s Neighbors 2.

Most recently, she reprised her role as Mavis in Sony PicturesHotel Transylvania 2, which opened to record-breaking box office.

She is not starring in 13 Reasons Why.

As a recording artist, Gomez has sold more than 22 million singles worldwide, and her new album Revival debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She will embark on a global tour next year.

Hernandez to Star Opposite Emma Stone in Lionsgate’s Musical Film “La La Land”

Callie Hernandez is La La Land bound…

The Latina actress has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s film La La Land.

Callie Hernandez

Damien Chazelle’s musical, set in contemporary Los Angeles, stars Ryan Gosling as a jazz pianist and Emma Stone as the aspiring actress he falls in love with. The catch: the city that brought them together may tear them apart, as they soon discover that balancing love and art in such a cutthroat climate isn’t easy.

Hernandez, who has appeared in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, has been cast as on of Stone’s three roommates. The other two roommates will be played by Sonoya Mizuno and Jessica Rothe.

La La Land has already secured a July 15, 2016 release date.

The film originally had Miles Teller and Emma Watson in the works to star. Teller and Chazelle had teamed on Whiplash, and the writer-director penned La La Land before that movie, which landed a Best Picture nomination last year and won him the Adapted Screenplay Oscar. But Teller moved on and Lionsgate scooped up Gosling and Stone in April.

Hernandez’s other credits include television appearances on From Dusk Till Dawn and Members Only. She’ll next star in the upcoming film Cover Girl.

Mendes Partners with New York & Company to Design Bridesmaids Line

Eva Mendes is always a bridesmaid

The 40-year-old Cuban American actress, model and singer, who gave birth to daughter Esmerelda Amada with Ryan Gosling in September, is launching a collection of bridesmaids dresses and accessories that she designed for New York & Company.

Eva Mendes

The eight-piece range, which features dresses in pale blue, light yellow and blush pink, will be available on the brand’s website and in stores in January 2015.

Mendes’ dresses are priced between $79 to $119, while her accessories are marked from $22 to $42.

Eva Mendes New York & Company Collection

“An important day needs a special dress,” Mendes said in a statement. “I love this collection for weddings and other special events. Feel great and dance the night away!”

 

Merediz to Star as George Lopez’s Mom in the FX Series “Saint George”

Olga Merediz is reuniting with her one-time co-star George Lopez

The 57-year-old Cuba-born Broadway, television and film actress, who appeared on ABC’s The George Lopez Show, has been cast in a series regular role on Lopez’s FX series Saint George, the 10-90 family sitcom from Lionsgate Television.

Olga Merediz

Merediz will play Lopez’s mother Alma, a feisty, combative and domineering woman with an acerbic wit.

Merediz, who originated the role of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights and earned a Tony nomination for her inspired performance, recently appeared opposite Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling in the feature Place Beyond The Pines.

Merediz’s other film credits include Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Evita, Marvin’s Room and Music of the Heart, while her television credits include Netflix‘s big hit Orange is the New Black, Royal Pains, Blue Bloods, Pan Am and Law & Order SVU.

Peña Cast in Fox’s Drama Pilot “The List”

Michael Peña is officially on The List at Fox

The 37-year-old Mexican American actor has landed the lead role in Fox’s drama pilot The List.

Michael Pena

The project, from Paul Zbyszewski, Ruben Fleischer and 20th Century Fox Television, revolves around an intense deputy U.S. Marshal who must hunt down the person who stole “the list,” a file with the identities of every member of the federal witness protection program, when people on that list start getting picked off.

Peña’s character is described as a ruggedly attractive, oddly charismatic man, a notoriously quirky maverick who often gets into trouble with the bureaucracy.

Peña, who earned a 2013 Independent Spirit Award nomination for End Of Watch and starred opposite Ryan Gosling in Gangster Squad, recently wrapped up work with Ed Harris on the border drama Frontera.

He’ll next be seen portraying Cesar Chavez in the Diego Luna-directed film Chavez.

Ryan Gosling Casts Mendes in His Directorial Debut Film

Ryan Gosling is planning to put his girlfriend Eva Mendes to work…

Gosling, who is preparing to make his directorial debut, has reportedly cast the 38-year-old Cuban-American actress as one of his leading ladies in How to Catch a Monster.

Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling

Gosling has picked Rob Zabrecky as Mendes’ co-star. The two join previously announced cast members Christina Hendricks and Ben Mendelsohn.

Gosling’s film weaves fantasy noir elements with suspense in what’s being called a modern day fairytale. Set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city, the story follows a single mother of two named Billy. She’s swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town. Both Billy and her son must dive deep into the mystery, if their family is to survive.

Mendes will reportedly play Cat, a prominent figure of the Big Bad Wolf Club. Zabrecky will play a cab driver.

Filming on How to Catch a Monster is set to begin filming this May.

Mendes and Gosling previously worked together on screen in The Place Beyond the Pines, which will open in theaters on March 29.