Ketchup Entertainment Releases Trailer for Robert Rodriguez-Directed Thriller “Hypnotic”

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Robert Rodriguez is hypnotizing audiences…

Ketchup Entertainment has released the trailer for Hypnotic, the thriller directed by 54-year-old Mexican American filmmaker.

The film, which stars Ben Affleck, will open in theaters on May 12 release.

The film is coming off a work-in-progress screening last month at SXSW.

Ketchup Entertainment acquired the U.S. rights to the big-budget film earlier this year; the project, which went into production in late 2021 after several pandemic delays and a lawsuit, saw its original financier and U.S. distributor Solstice Studios shut down. Now it will be released via Ketchup on more than 2,000 screens, helped by several former Solstice executives who will assist in getting the film over the finish line.

The feature centers on a detective (Affleck) who finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending crimes mysteriously connected to his missing daughter. Aided by a gifted psychic (Alice Braga), he is pursued by a lethal specter (William Fichtner) who he believes holds the key to finding his daughter.

JD Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey and Jackie Earle Haley also star.

Alice Braga to Star in Sci-Fi Series “Dark Matter”

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Dark time for Alice Braga.

The 39-year-old Brazilian actress and producer will star opposite Jimmi Simpson and Joel Edgerton in Dark Matter, an adaptation of Blake Crouch’s acclaimed sci-fi novel, at Apple TV+.

Jennifer Connelly also stars in the series from Sony Television and executive produced by Edgerton.

Written and showrun by Crouch, the nine-episode series will follow Jason Dessen, (Edgerton) a physicist, professor, and family man who — one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago — is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.

Braga will play Amanda, a psychiatrist. Simpson portrays Ryan, a brilliant neuroscientist and friend of Jason’s (Edgerton).

Dark Matter is executive produced by Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl for Matt Tolmach Productions.

Crouch will write and serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series, and Jakob Verbruggen is set to direct the first three episodes.

Braga is known for her starring role as Teresa Mendoza in USA’s Queen of the South. On the film side she was most recently seen in The Suicide Squad, and soon will be seen in FX’s upcoming limited series Retreat.

Cattleya Producciones Acquires Rights to Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s Novel “The Italian” with Plans to Adapt as a Miniseries

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It appears another of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novels is coming to life…

ITV Studios-owned Spanish drama house Cattleya Producciones has acquired the rights to the 70-year-old Spanish novelist and journalist’s bestselling novel El Italiano and will adapt it as a miniseries.

Inspired by real events, El Italiano is a story of love, spies and the sea set at the height of World War II in the Bay of Algeciras, where Italian combat divers are causing chaos among the Allied forces.

Arturo Díaz, Managing Director and Executive Producer of Cattleya Producciones, and Ricardo Tozzi, founder and President of Cattleya, are leafing the project.

Cattleya Producciones is searching for an international cast to bring El Italiano‘s Spanish, Italian and English characters to life.

Screenwriter Beto Marini, co-creator of Movistar+ series La Unidad and feature films such as Retribution and Extinction is adapting the story.

Pérez-Reverte was trained in underwater activities at Spain’s Centro de Buceo de la Armada (Navy Diving Center) in Cartagena in the late 1960s and part of El Italiano comes from a story told to him by his father when he was a child.

“I’m positive that this series from Cattleya, whose productions I have always admired for their quality, will be faithful to the story I wrote,” he said.

Pérez-Reverte’s previous work La Reina del Sur (2002), about a Mexican woman who becomes a leader of a drug trafficking cartel in the south of Spain, was adapted into a Spanish-language telenovela starring Kate del Castillo, and later an English-language series (Queen of the South) starring Alice Braga.

Raul Esparza to Star in FX’s Limited Series “Retreat”

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Raul Esparza is going on retreat…

The 51-year-old Cuban American actor and Broadway star has been cast in FX’s Retreat, a limited series from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij.

Led by Emma Corrin, the list of new additions to the cast includes Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Jermaine Fowler, Joan Chen, Edoardo Ballerini Pegah Ferydoni, Ryan J. Haddad and Javed Khan.

Retreat is a radical conceptualization of the whodunit with a new kind of detective at the helm — a gen Z amateur sleuth named Darby Hart (Corrin). Darby and 11 other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a Retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.

Esparza is David; Owen plays Andy; Marling portrays Lee; Dickinson is Bill; Braga plays Sian; Fowler is Martin; Chen portrays Lu Mei; Ballerini plays Ray; Ferydoni portrays Ziba; Haddad plays Oliver and Khan is Rohan.

Marling and Batmanglij will write and direct the series. FX Productions is the studio.

Esparza is best known for his role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

He received Tony Award nominations for his roles as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert in the musical comedy Company in 2006; Lenny in Harold Pinter‘s play The Homecoming in 2008; and Charlie Fox in David Mamet‘s play Speed-the-Plow in 2009.

JD Pardo to Star in Robert Rodriguez’s Action-Thriller “Hypnotic”

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a hypnotic time for JD Pardo…

The 41-year-old Argentine Salvadoran American actor will star in Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic, alongside Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, Dayo Okeniyi, William Fichtner and Hala Finley.

Currently filming in Texas, Hypnotic follows a detective (Affleck) who becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter (Finley) and a secret government program – while investigating a string of impossible high-end crimes.

Rodriguez and Max Borenstein wrote the film.

Pardo recently had a cameo as character Jack Toretto in Universal’s blockbuster hit F9: The Fast Saga and he’ll next be seen in STX’s Violence of Action alongside Chris Pine and Ben Foster.

He recently wrapped work on Amazon’s conspiracy-thriller series The Terminal List opposite Chris Pratt. Earlier this week he was awarded the Imagen Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of EZ Reyes in FX’s hit show Mayans M.C. which has been picked up for a fourth season.

Kleber Mendonça Filho Named to This Year’s Cannes Film Festival Jury

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kleber Mendonça Filho is on the jury…

Organizers for the 74th Cannes Film Festival have unveiled the nine-person jury group, which includes 52-year-old Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and critic.

In addition to Filho, the jury includes president Spike Lee, French-Senegalese actor-director Mati Diop; Oscar nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, French actress Mélanie Laurent, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and French singer Mylène Farmer.

Rounding out the jury are French actor Tahar Rahim and South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho.

Filho’s first movie, Neighboring Sounds, made its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2012 and was Brazil’s entry in the race for the Oscars. His second feature film, Aquarius, starring Sonia Braga, played in competition at the 69th Cannes in 2016 before being nominated for a César and an Independent Spirit Awards. In 2019, Bacurau, which Filho co-directed with Juliano Dornelles, screened in competition in Cannes was awarded the Jury Prize.

All together, the jury will watch 24 films in competition during the delayed film festival from July 6-17. The jury will announce its winners on the last day of the festival.

Alice Braga to Star in Robert Rodriguez’s Thriller “Hypnotic”

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alice Braga has landed a hypnotic role…

The 38-year-old Brazilian actress has joined the cast of Robert Rodriguez’s thriller Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck.

Cameras are set to roll starting on September 20, in Austin, Texas, after the film’s original start date in April 2020 was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then insurance issues.

Hypnotic will follow a detective who becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of high-end crimes.

The film is written by Sin City and Alita: Battle Angel filmmaker Rodriguez and Max Borenstein. Rodriguez, Studio 8 CEO Jeff Robinov and Studio8’s Guy Danella and John Graham are producing with Solstice.

Solstice has already sold the film well into international markets and is due to release Hypnotic in the U.S.

Braga will next be seen in The Suicide Squad, alongside Margo Robbie, Idris Elba and Viola Davis. She’s known for her starring role in the long-running USA Network series Queen Of The South, Luca Guadagnino’s limited series We Are Who We Are, and was one of the lead voices in Oscar-winning Pixar film Soul.

Alice Braga to Star in Innovative Sci-Fi Film “Share”

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alice Braga is ready to share, and share alike…

The 38-year-old Brazilian actress and producer will star in Share, an innovative sci-fi film from The Traveling Picture Show Company, Wavemaker Creative and award-winning commercial director Ira Rosensweig.

Braga will star opposite Melvin Gregg, Bradley Whitford and Danielle Campbell in the film.

Scripted by Benjamin Sutor, Rosensweig’s debut feature follows a man who awakens to find himself stripped of all his possessions, and trapped in a bare room. Aided by a primitive computer, he must learn to survive in his new isolated existence where entertainment is the only currency.

While the actors’ roles have not been disclosed, the indie will reportedly be brought to life using “unique and immersive” filmmaking techniques. Given that each character in the story is physically isolated, the shoot (which is currently underway) called for the construction of multiple identical sets with integrated camera systems, teleprompters, and live event technology.

The system designed for the project allows the actors to fully interact both with each other and the computer interface central to the story in real time, while giving the director and crew a precise pre-visualization of the finished product.

Braga recently lent her voice to Oscar-winning Pixar feature, Soul. On the television side, the actress currently stars in USA Network’s drama, Queen of the South.

She also recently appeared in the HBO series We Are Who We Are, from Luca Guadagnino.

Up next, she’ll appear opposite Margot Robbie, Idris Elba and Viola Davis in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

USA Network to End Alice Braga’s “Queen of the South” with Upcoming Fifth Season

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s the end of the road for Alice Braga…

The 37-year-old Brazilian actress’ USA Network drama Queen of the South is ending with its upcoming fifth season, which will mark the end of the NBCU cable net’s long-running scripted series.

Production on Season 5 of the show, which was renewed back in August 2019, was suspended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and started up again last fall in New Orleans. The 10-episode season – the previous four had 13 each — will premiere at 10 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.

“We could not be prouder of our entire cast and crew that joined us on this magnificent journey,” said executive producers Dailyn Rodriguez, Ben Lobato and David Friendly. “Queen of the South began shooting in Mexico City, brought us to faraway places like Malta and Colombia and finally landed in New Orleans. We cannot wait to share the explosive final season with our devoted fans. And, of course, we could not have made this show without the talented and tireless Alice Braga, who brought our queen to life.”

Braga plays Teresa Mendoza, a woman who is forced to run from the Mexican cartel and seek refuge in America. Queen of the South follows her eventual rise to power over her own drug-trafficking empire.

Season 5 will see Molly Burnett, who plays Kelly Anne, a member of Mendoza’s cartel, upped to series regular, with Pasha Lychnikoff joining in a recurring role as an underworld oligarch and war criminal.

Queen of the South is based on Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel La Reina del Sur, which was a popular series for NBCU-owned Spanish-language network. It’s produced by 20^th Century Fox Television and UCP with Friendly, Rodriguez and Lobato as EPs.

“For five incredible seasons, Queen of the South has captivated us with brilliant storytelling and bold, powerful characters,” added Frances Berwick, Chairman, Entertainment Networks. “This series broke boundaries for the genre, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with this incredible team of creators, cast and crew along with our studio partners at 20th Television and UCP. As we close this final chapter, we look forward to a great season culminating in a finale that will give our fans the ending they deserve.”

HBO to Premiere Kid Cudi’s New Drama Series “We Are Who We Are” in September

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Kid Cudi is bringing the family drama to HBO this September.

HBO will premiere its new drama series We Are Who We Are, starring the 36-year-old half-Mexican American rapper/singer and actor, on September 14.

Starring Chloë Sevigny and newcomers, including Jack Dylan Grazer and Jordan Kristine Seamón, We Are Who We Are is a coming of age story about two American teenagers who, along with their military and civilian parents, are living on an American military base in Italy.

Kid Cudi portrays Richard Harper, Caitlin’s (portrayed by Seamon) and Danny’s (Spence Moore II) father, while Alice Braga stars as Maggie, Fraser’s (Grazer) mother.

Academy Award-nominated director Luca Guadagnino writes, directs and serves as showrunner on the series, which will also be available to stream on HBO Max.

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