Pedro Pascal in Final Negotiations to Star in Paramount’s Untitled “Gladiator” Sequel

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Pascal is ready to Rome…

The 48-year-old Chilean actor is thisclose to joining the cast of the untitled Gladiator sequel for Paramount.

Pascal would join Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius, as well as Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott is returning to direct.

Pascal’s role is unknown.

The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned more than $460 million in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning five including Best Picture.

The role of Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, was a career-changer for Russell Crowe, not only delivering him the Best Actor Oscar but also launching him to the top of every leading-man list. Once it was made clear last year that the sequel would be Scott’s next movie, every male actor in town that fit the profile began chasing the part.

David Scarpa penned the script.

Also returning from the original film are John Mathieson (director of photography), Arthur Max (production designer) and Janty Yates (costume designer).

Paramount Pictures has dated the film for November 22, 2024.

The first film was co-production between Universal and DreamWorks, and while DreamWorks will not be involved in the sequel, Universal has the right to partner again when the project is packaged.

Pascal has been a major player following his scene-stealing role in his one season on Game of Thrones, but his star has blasted off following The Last of Us, which has become one of the most popular shows in HBO’s history. While HBO is looking to get the show up and going next year, Pascal had been weighing a number of options to shoot before jumping back in to that and the opportunity on this film was too hard to pass up.

Besides The Last of Us, which will certainly have him in award season chatter this Emmy season, he also reprised his role on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which just had its Season 3 finale last week.

Pascal can next be seen starring alongside Ethan Hawke in Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way of Life, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics this fall.

Additionally, Pascal is in Ethan Coen’s film Drive-Away Dolls, distributed by Focus Features and releasing in September. Pascal also stars in Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales, which is likely to come out later this year.

He also hosted Saturday Night Live earlier this year, earning rave reviews, and is also in contention for some Emmy love this awards season.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Worldwide Rights to Pedro Almodovar’s “Strange Way of Life,” Starring Pedro Pascal

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Pascal’s strange way of life will be on full display globally…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the worldwide rights (outside of the UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Latin America) to Strange Way of Life, the buzzy short film starring the Chilean actor.

The film, from Pedro Almodóvar, also stars Ethan Hawke.

The short will premiere as an official selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The film, acquired at the pre-production phase, is slated for release this fall and will almost certainly be positioned for awards consideration, given the caliber of talent behind it.

Following two gunmen who reunite after 25 years, Strange Way of Life marks the latest in a long line of collaborations between Almodóvar and SPC, coming on the heels of the filmmaker’s first English-language project The Human Voice — a short also distributed by SPC, which starred Tilda Swinton.

Almodóvar describes the plot as follows: “A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship…”

Produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and presented by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Strange Way of Life also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández and Sara Sálamo.

Agustín Almodóvar produced, with Esther García as executive producer, and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello as associate producers.

Four-time Oscar nom and regular Almodóvar collaborator Alberto Iglesias penned the score, with Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello handling the costumes.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Worldwide Rights to Carlos Santana Documentary “Carlos”

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Santana’s life story will be heading to a theater near you…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the worldwide rights to Carlos, a new documentary about the 75-year-old Mexican guitarist, considered the father of Latin American jazz fusion.

A release date for the film directed by Emmy winner Rudy Valdez has not been disclosed.

Featuring never-before-seen or heard archival footage and music, Carlos offers an intimate and exhilarating look inside the mind of an elemental force of contemporary music and tells the story of Santana’s life – from a 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy-winning and three-time Latin Grammy-winning global sensation.

Imagine Documentaries and Sony Music Entertainment jointly financed the film, with Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes producing along with Lizz Morhaim, Leopoldo Gout, Ashley Kahn and Sam Pollard.

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard executive produced for Imagine Documentaries alongside Michael Vrionis and Tom Mackay & Richard Story for Sony Music Entertainment, with Meredith Kaulfers co-exec producing for Imagine Documentaries.

“Imagine is thrilled to bring the band back together and reunite with our partners at SPC on this magical journey with the legendary Carlos Santana and our director Rudy Valdez,” said Imagine Documentaries president Bernstein. “There isn’t a better team to inspire the world with Carlos’ extraordinary life.”

Commented Sony Music Entertainment’s EVP Premium Content Development, Sales, Krista Wegener: “We are beyond excited to be joining forces with Sony Pictures Classics to bring Carlos to the big screen. Our incredible partners, Rudy Valdez and Imagine, have created a stunningly beautiful portrait of Carlos Santana that captures his singular artistry and spirit. We can’t wait to share his story with audiences around the world.”

“I am honored and humbled to tell Carlos Santana’s story as a director. Carlos is a true trailblazer who has meant so much to so many people. My hope is that this film is a celebration of a life defined by humanity,” shared Valdez. “It was incredibly impactful to see someone who looks like me blow up the boundaries and expectations the world had placed on him as a Mexican immigrant and person of color, and I’m thrilled to be putting this story out into the world. I am also immensely grateful for the amazing team at Imagine Documentaries and Sony, who surrounded me through the entire process and helped me see this vision through.”

He continued: “The film could not have found a better distribution partner than Sony Pictures Classics. In their hands the film will have the opportunity to reach the masses and ensure as many people as possible get a chance to experience Carlos’ magic.”

Added Universal Tone Management’s President, Vrionis: “It is an honor to share the story of one of the world’s most iconic cusicians, Carlos Santana. His triumphant journey is the must-see event of the year. Partnering with Imagine Documentaries, Sony Music and Sony Pictures Classics was the perfect fit to tell this unbelievable story of victory and high consciousness.”

Melissa Barrera to Star in Radio Silence’s Untitled Monster Thriller

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Barrera has reportedly landed a monster role…

The 32-year-old Mexican actress has been cast in Radio Silence’s Untitled Monster Thriller at Universal.

Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, who directed the recent Scream films that Barrera has starred in, will helm the project with Scream producer Chad Villella serving as producer alongside William Sherak, Paul Neinstein and James Vanderbilt at Project X Entertainment.

The script was written by Stephen Shields, with revisions by Guy Busick.

Universal Monster films are rooted in the horror genre, with no restrictions on budget, rating or genre. They are not part of a shared interconnected universe, which allows each film to stand on its own. This new direction is filmmaker-driven, inviting innovative filmmakers with original, bold ideas for these characters to develop the stories and pitch them.

Radio Silence has been loosely developing the project since last year following the success of their first Scream pic, but given the success of that film, Paramount moved fast to get Scream VI up and running. While they began meeting with other talent, it became evident pretty quickly that Barrera was the perfect fit for the role following two successful shoots with the rising star and offered her the part.

Barrera is in theaters as the lead of Scream VI, which is the highest-grossing film of the franchise. She next will be seen this spring in the modern musical reimagining of Carmen, opposite Paul Mescal for Sony Pictures Classics.

Also upcoming for Barrera is God’s Country, directed by Egor Abramenko as his American directorial debut; Your Monster from Merman Productions; and The Collaboration written by four-time Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody), based off the acclaimed play.

She most recently was seen in the independent film All the World Is Sleeping as well as Netflix’s global hit Keep Breathing and STX’s supernatural thriller Bed Rest, which was also Barrera’s producorial debut.

Melissa Barrera Starring in New Genre Film “God’s Country”

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Barrera is heading to God’s country…

Matt Reeves’ 6th & Idaho is teaming up with ZQ Entertainment to produce God’s Country, a new genre film starring the 32-year-old Mexican actress and Scream reboot star.

The film will mark the American directorial debut of Egor Abramenko.

The film, which will head into production this summer, will see Barrera playing a young Salvadoran woman who travels to Kentucky to meet her fiancé. What she uncovers is something sinister beyond comprehension, as her American dream curdles into a nightmare of biblical proportions.

Will Soodik wrote the script. Reeves and Rafi Crohn will produce for 6th & Idaho, alongside ZQ Entertainment’s Ara Keshishian and Petr Jákl (who financed the development), Adam Kassan (End of Watch), and Barrera.

“Egor is an exciting emerging talent,” Reeves told Deadline, “and I’m thrilled to be making a monster movie together.”

Barrera is best known for her turns in Paramount/Spyglass’ Scream reboot, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In the Heights for Warner Bros. and HBO Max and the acclaimed Starz series Vida.

She’ll next be seen in Scream VI, which is out March 10; Sony Pictures Classics’ Carmen with Paul Mescal; and the Anthony McCarten-scripted feature The Collaboration, based on the acclaimed play.

Melissa Barrera to Star in the Netflix Survival Drama Series “Breathe”

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Will Melissa Barrera make it through the wilderness?

The 30-year-old Mexican actress and singer has been cast as the lead in Breathe, Netflix’s one-hour drama series from Blindspot creator Martin Gero and writer-executive producer Brendan Gall, and Warner Bros. Television.

Barrera, who rose to acclaim in Starz’s Latinx series Vida, will portray a lone woman who must battle the elements and odds to survive after her plane crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

Barrera’s Eve is a razor-sharp Manhattan attorney who finds herself profoundly out of her comfort zone when her plane crashes and she must battle for survival.

Gero executive produces via his Quinn’s House production company, along with Gall. Warner Bros. Television is the studio.

Barrera most recently starred as co-lead Lyn in Tanya Saracho’s Vida, which aired for three seasons on Starz.

She next stars in In the Heights, the feature adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical, and also will be seen in a key role in the upcoming Scream 5.

She recently wrapped Sony Pictures Classics’ Carmen, the modern-day reimagining of the classic opera.

Sony Pictures Classics Releases Trailer for Martin Sheen’s “12 Mighty Orphans”

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is ready for a mighty summer…

Sony Pictures Classics has released the trailer for 12 Mighty Orphans, which stars the 80-year-old half-Spanish actor.

The film will be released on June 11 and expands a week later.

The film is set to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival during the week of June 13.

Sony Pictures Classics will open Ty Roberts’ 12 Mighty Orphans on June 11 in New York and Texas with a wider expansion on June 18.

Texas theaters will do advance screenings starting June 10.

12 Mighty Orphans tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who during the Great Depression went from playing without shoes—or even a football—to playing for the Texas state championships. Over the course of their winning season the underdogs and their resilient spirit became an inspiration to their city, state, and an entire nation in need of a rebound, even catching the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The architect of their success was Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), a legendary high school coach who shocked his colleagues by giving up a privileged position so he could teach and coach at an orphanage. Few knew Rusty’s secret: that he himself was an orphan. Recognizing that his scrawny players couldn’t beat the other teams with brawn, Rusty developed innovative strategies that would come to define modern football.

Sheen, Vinessa Shaw, Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams, Ron White, Scott Haze, and Robert Duvall also star.

The film, written by Roberts, Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer was adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling book of the same name.

Sony Pictures Classics Releases New Trailer for Pedro Almodovar’s First English-Language Film “The Human Voice”

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodóvar’s voice is being amplified…

Sony Pictures Classics has a released a new trailer for the 71-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s first English-language film The Human Voice.

Clocking in at an attention-span-friendly 30 minutes and starring Tilda Swinton, the film screened at last year’s Venice, New York and London fests and made the Oscar shortlist for Live Active Short announced last month.

Here’s the film’s synopsis and commentary written by the Oscar-winning filmmaker himself:

A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up, but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn’t understand that his master has abandoned him. Two living beings facing abandonment. During the three days of waiting, the woman only goes out to the street once, to buy an ax and a can of gasoline.

The woman goes through all sorts of moods, from helplessness to despair and loss of control. She makes herself up, she dresses up as if going to a party, she considers throwing herself off of the balcony, until her ex-lover calls on the phone, but she’s unconscious because she’s taken a combination of thirteen pills and cannot answer the call. The dog licks her face until she wakes up. After a cold shower, revived by a coffee as black as her state of mind, the telephone rings again and this time she can answer.

The human voice is hers, we never hear the voice of her lover. At first she pretends to act normal and calm, but she is always on the verge of exploding in the face of the man’s hypocrisy and meanness. “The Human Voice” is a moral lesson about desire, even though its protagonist is on the verge of the very same abyss. Risk is an essential part of the adventure of living and loving. Pain is very present in the monologue. As I said at first, it is about the disorientation and distress of two living beings who grieve their master.

Sony Pictures Classics will open The Human Voice March 12 in theaters in New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, accompanied by a digitally restored version of Almodóvar’s 1988 feature Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” Awarded Two Prizes by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuaron is the LA critics’ choice…

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has announced its annual awards with the 57-year-old Mexican filmmaker earning two trophies for his critically acclaimed drama Roma.

Cuaron’s “deeply personal” film tookhome honors for Best Picture, while he was named Best Cinematography for his work on the Spanish language film.

He was the runner up in the Best Director and Best Editing categories.

The group will honor its winners January 12 at a gala dinner at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, where Japanese director and animator Hayao Miyazaki will receive the Career Achievement award.

Last year, Sony Pictures Classics’ Call Me By Your Name was voted the LAFCA’s Best Picture, with A24’s The Florida Project runner-up for Best Picture. The former went on to earn an Oscar Best Picture nom.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Best Picture:
Winner: ROMA
Runner-up: Burning

Best Director
Winner: Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
Runner-up: Alfonso Cuaron, ROMA

Best Actor
Winner: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Runner-up: Ben Foster, Leave No Trace

Best Documentary
Runner-up: Minding the Gap
Winner: Shirkers

Best Screenplay
Winner: Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Runner-up: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara, The Favourite

The Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Award
Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin, The Green Fog

Best Animation
Winner: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Runner-up: Incredibles 2

Best Actress
Winner: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Runner-up: Toni Collette, Hereditary

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Runner-up: Elizabeth Debicki, Widows

Editing
Winner: Joshua Altman and Bing Liu, Minding the Gap
Runner-up: Alfonso Cuarón and Adam Gough, Roma

Best Production Design
Winner: Hannah Beachler, Black Panther
Runner-up: Fiona Crombie, The Favourite

Supporting Actor
Winner: Steven Yeun, Burning
Runner-up: Hugh Grant, Paddington 2

Best Music/Score
Winner: Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk
Runner-up: Justin Hurwitz, First Man

Best Cinematography
Winner: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Runner-up: James Laxton, If Beale Street Could Talk

Career Achievement Award
Hayao Miyazaki

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Lelio’s “A Fantastic Woman”

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Sebastián Lelio’s latest project is expanding globally…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American, Australian and New Zealand rights to the 42-year-old Argentine-Chilean filmmaker’s A Fantastic Woman, ahead of its world premiere in competition Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival.

Written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza, the Spanish-language film stars Daniela Vega as Marina, a waitress and singer, and Orlando (Francisco Reyes), an older man, who are in love and planning for the future. After Orlando suddenly falls ill and dies, Marina is forced to confront his family and society, and to fight again to show them who she is: complex, strong, forthright, fantastic.

The Chile-U.S.-Germany-Spain co-production is produced by Fabula’s Juan de Dios Larraín and Pablo Larraín with German banner Komplizen Film.

Lelio’s previous film, Gloria, won Best Ibero-American Film at the 1st Platino Awards.

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Celebrating the Latino Influence

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