Kalinda Vazquez Signs Multi-Year Overall Deal with Netflix

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Life is but a stream for Kalinda Vazquez…

Netflix signed a multi-year overall deal with the Latina creator, writer, and producer.

Under the terms of the deal, Vazquez will create, write and produce new series and other projects at the streamer.

Vazquez, known for her work on Star Trek: Discovery and Fear The Walking Dead, is already writing and developing her first project Arbor Hall, an original YA concept that blends mystery, thriller, and genre story elements.

It tells the story of a Latinx teen girl who investigates the mysterious disappearance of her best friend on the campus of their exclusive boarding school. Along the way, she discovers an underbelly of her school that is far darker than just money and privilege.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Netflix family – it is a huge honor and joy to have a creative home at a place where originality is trumpeted and creators’ unique visions are fostered. I am so excited for what is to come,” Vazquez said in a statement.

“Kalinda is a rare talent with a passion for genre storytelling and a trove of ideas and original concepts,” says Alex Sapot, Netflix Director, Overall Deals. “We’re thrilled and privileged to support her vision and bring her distinctive voice, characters, and stories to the forefront.”

Vazquez is an upper-level film and television writer who has worked on Star Trek: Short Treks, Fear the Walking Dead, Runaways, and Once Upon A Time.

She’s currently writing an untitled Star Trek movie for Paramount and Bad Robot, as well as adapting the sci-fi novel Roadmarks as a series for HBO with George R.R. Martin producing.

Entertainment One to Develop Series Based on Adam Silvera’s YA Novel “They Both Die at the End”

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s the beginning of the End for Adam Silvera.

Entertainment One has acquired the U.S. rights to the 40-year-old half Puerto Rican writer’s novel They Both Die at the End to develop for television.

Silvera’s novel currently ranks at No. 1 on the New York Times YA paperback bestsellers list three years after it was published.

Silvera is attached to pen the series adaptation. eOne will serve as the studio and distribute the project worldwide.

Published by HarperCollins in September 2017, They Both Die at the End was previously in development as a series at HBO with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and The Other Two co-creator Chris Kelly. eOne pursued the rights when they became available, landing in a competitive situation.

Creative Engine and eOne already have a relationship with Silvera, whose first novel, More Happy Than Not, is currently in the works as a series at HBO Max, also eOne. Andrew Haigh is attached to direct.

They Both Die at the End is a devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day. According to the book synopsis: “On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.”

The book made history as the first YA novel with queer Latinx characters to hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list.

The novel experienced a resurgence in popularity during the pandemic and hit No. 1 again last month after it became a fixture under the TikTok hashtag #BookTok, where users recommend books and record their reactions to emotional story developments.

It now ranks as the bestselling YA novel of 2021, and there has been a 900% increase in printings to meet demand. The novel also is a No. 1 National Indie bestseller, the No. 1 YA bestseller in the UK and Australia, and the top-selling YA title on the USA Today bestseller list.

Silvera has expressed interest in writing more books in the They Both Die at the End universe.

Kalinda Vazquez to Write “Star Trek” Film for Paramount Pictures

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kalinda Vazquez has landed an out of this world opportunity…

The Latina television writer and producer has been set by Paramount Pictures to write a Star Trek film.

JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing.

Vazquez has written on Star Trek: Discovery, and insiders say this is a blind deal for an original movie that she hatched, one that expands her role in the Star Trek Universe.

Vazquez was a co-executive producer on Fear the Walking Dead. She also got her name from the original Star Trek series, after a character from the second-season episode “By Any Other Name.” In the 1968 episode, the character’s name was Kelinda.

Vazquez just made a splash in teaming with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin on an HBO series adaptation of the Roger Zelazny sci-fi novel Roadmarks.

Vazquez’s television credits include Marvel’s Runaways, Once Upon a Time, Nikita, Human Target and Prison Break, and she recently adapted Barrier, based on a Brian K. Vaughan graphic novel, for Legendary Television.

Guillermo del Toro to Write & Direct the Action Film “Zanbato”

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro has a new fighton his hands…

The 54-year-old Mexican filmmaker is attached to write and direct the action movie Zanbato for Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.

The logline is under wraps. Zanbatocenters on a young girl with lethal fighting skills. del Toro posted the news on his Twitter account that the project has been in development for the past six years without leaking, adding, “We are still developing steadily.”

del Toro also said Friday that he’s in pre-production on Pinocchiofor Netflix, on which he’ll make his animated feature film directing debut in a stop-motion musical version of the classic children’s tale about a puppet who wants to be a real live boy. Netflix and del Toro announced in October that he would write and produce the film, set in Italy during the 1930s, when fascism was on the rise.

del Toro is also producing Scott Cooper‘s Antlersat Fox Searchlight, and Scary Stories to Tell in the DarkatCBS Films.

He won Academy Awardslast year for producing and directing The Shape of Water.

Ortiz to Star in the Sci-Fi Film “God Particle”

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

John Ortiz has landed a God-sized role…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican has signed on to star in God Particle, the Julius Onah-helmed sci-fi film from Paramount Pictures and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot.

The script from 22 Jump Street’s Oren Uziel and Star Trek Beyond’s Doug Jung centers on the effort by scientists aboard an international space station looking for a new energy source to try to tap the power of the mysterious “God Particle,” inadvertently triggering catastrophic side effects.

Production is now set to begin on June 10 in Los Angeles on the movie that already stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris O’Dowd, Zhang Ziyi and Aksel Hennie.

A February 24, 2017 release date has been staked out.

Collins to Star in HBO’s Sci-Fi Western Series “Westworld”

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Clifton Collins Jr. is heading West(world)…

The 45-year-old Mexican and Spanish American actor has joined the cast of HBO’s series Westworld, a television adaptation of the 1973 sci-fi western film that was set in a high-tech theme park that was staffed by robots who authentically replicated Roman, cowboy and medieval times.

After the park’s computer system breaks down, the robots ran amok and guests found themselves stalked by a gunslinging robot, played by Yul Brynner.

Collins will star opposite Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden and Thandie Newton in the reboot of the 1973 pic.

Collins, who starred in Pacific Rim, will play Lawrence, a sly criminal who really knows his way around Westworld.

Scheduled to air in 2016, Westworld hails from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Jonathan Nolan, writer Lisa Joy plus Warner Bros. Televison and Jerry Weintraub Productions.

Orci In Talks to Write the Next Star Trek Film…

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Orci will be trekking into familiar territory…

The Mexican-American film and television writer and producer and his business partner Alex Kurtzman are in talks to pen the next Star Trek outing for Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Orci and Kurtzman co-wrote the previous two installments for director J.J. Abrams, who is in negotiations to produce Star Trek 3 through his Bad Robot production company. Damon Lindelof also shared writing credit on this summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Sources say Lindelof will not be back for the third chapter of the rebooted franchise.

Though the project is shrouded in secrecy, much like Star Trek Into Darkness was, reports have surfaced in recent weeks that the studio would tap new writers. Rumors swirled that other young writing teams were being courted for their takes. But Paramount shifted gears recently and is returning to the duo that breathed new life into the moribund franchise. The tricky part was getting Kurtzman and Orci to find a gap in their schedules to write. In addition to their growing TV empire, they have been busy on the film front as part of their two-year first-look deal with Universal Pictures that has them rebooting The Mummy and Van Helsing.

The next Star Trek film is untitled and unscheduled, but Paramount and Skydance are eager to continue the franchise, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016. Stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana are expected to return.

Cuarón to Direct First American Television Project for NBC…

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is set to make his first foray into American television…

The 50-year-old Mexican filmmaker has partnered with J.J. Abrams for a high-concept drama, which has landed at NBC with a pilot production commitment.

Cuarón, a three-time Oscar nominee, will direct the pilot, which he’ll co-write with Home of the Brave’s Mark Friedman. The project centers on a girl who possesses great powers, which will come to fruition in seven years, and the man who gets released from prison to protect her from those trying to hunt her down.

Warner Bros. Television and Abrams’ studio-based Bad Robot are producing the untitled project, with Abrams, Cuarón, Friedman and Bryan Burk executive producing.

Cuarón received Academy Award nominations for writing Y tu mamá también and Children of Men, both of which he directed as well. He also received a nod for editing Children of Men. He also helmed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

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