Barbie, starring the 39-year-old Honduran American actress as one half of the film’s emotional heart, remains the No. 1 film in the United States in its second weekend in theaters.
Estimates have Barbie earning $91M-$93M range at 4,337 theaters —the best second weekend Warner Bros. has ever seen in their history. Barbie beats Dark Knight‘s weekend 2 of $75.1M.
At the high end, Barbie’s totalwould land at $351.4M as of Sunday. The film made $34M son Saturday, per industry estimates, +17% from Friday’s $29M.
Barbie crossed the $300M mark in nine days, making it the fastest female-driven film to do so stateside, beating Beauty and the Beast‘s ten days to that benchmark.
The 90-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress, dancer and singer will be part of the cast of ABC’s animated and live-action blended special,Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.
Moreno, an EGOT winner (Emmy–Grammy-Oscar-Tony Award winner), will serve as the night’s narrator.
Josh Groban is set as the co-lead opposite H.E.R. in the project.
Groban, who previously recorded a song for the 2017 Beauty and the Beastlive-action movie, will play Beast alongside previously announced H.E.R. as Belle. Joshua Henry has been tapped to play antagonist Gaston.
Presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, the two-hour reimagining of the beloved story of Beauty and the Beast will be taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios and will air December 15 on ABC and on Disney+ the next day.
Jon M. Chu is set to executive produce the special and Hamish Hamilton set to direct.
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration is produced by Done+Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere.
Disney+ has renewed the acclaimed original series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, starring the 22-year-old Mexican American actor/singer, for a third season.
Created and executive-produced by Tim Federle, season three will follow the Wildcats as they leave the hallways of East High for the ultimate summer at sleepaway camp, complete with campfires, summer romances and curfew-less nights.
Production for the third season will relocate from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and begin later this year.
“We are overjoyed to be heading to the great outdoors for season three, and grateful to our partners and friends at Disney+ for their continued support of our next-generation Wildcats,” said Federle.
Seasons one and two are set at East High School, the setting and filming location of the original movies. In season one, the series follows members of the drama club and their faculty advisors as they work their way to opening night of their school’s first-ever production of High School Musical: The Musical.
Season two culminates in a performance of Beauty and the Beast.
The soundtracks for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season one, season two, and High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special have drawn 1 billion, 438 million combined streams to date.
Seasons one and two of the GLAAD Media Award-winning series are currently available on Disney+.
In addition to Rodriguez, who plays Carlos Rodriguez, the series also stars Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Matt Cornettand Sofia Wylie.
Dania Ramirez’s story will be told sooner than initially planned…
The CW has moved up the scheduled debut of the first season of the 40-year-old Dominican American actress’ psychological thrilleranthology series Tell Me a Story.
Instead of opening in the fall, the CW will debut the first 10-episode season of the CBS All Access series to this summer, with the series debuting on Tuesday, July 28 at 9:00 pm ET.
Tell Me a Story takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller.
Set in modern-day New York City, the first season of this serialized drama interweaves The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hoodand Hansel and Gretelinto an epic and subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge, and murder.
In addition to Ramirez, who portrays Hannah Perez, the first season also stars James Wolk, Billy Magnussenand Zabryna Guevara.
Since the network acquired two seasons of Tell Me a Story, the CW will have enough episodes to continue running through the series through the fall.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadwayhit is heading to the big screen.
Disney will release a feature film of the original Tony Award-winning stage musical Hamilton, created by the 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer/lyricist, actor and creator, in the U.S. and Canada on October 15, 2021.
The studio is teaming with Miranda, Jeffrey Sellerand Thomas Kail on the project, which is billed as a “leap forward in the art of ‘live capture.’” It explains the live capture method as “combining the best elements of live theater and film,” resulting in “a cinematic stage performance that is a wholly new way to experience Hamilton.”
Producers for this version of Hamilton include Miranda, Seller and Kail, who also directs.
The film was shot in June 2016 at the Richard Rodgers Theatreand reports began circulatingin 2018 that bidders were circling the film version of the stage production. Studios had to pledge not to release it until at least 2020.
The original Broadway cast of the record-smashing show will appear in the new film. Cast members include Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggsas Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberryas Angelica Schuyler; and Leslie Odom, Jr.as Aaron Burr. Also due to star are Christopher Jacksonas George Washington; Jonathan Groffas King George; Phillipa Sooas Eliza Hamilton; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowanas Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramosas John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
“Lin-Manuel Miranda created an unforgettable theater experience and a true cultural phenomenon, and it was for good reason that Hamiltonwas hailed as an astonishing work of art. All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience,” Disney CEO Bob Igersaid. “And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share this same Broadway experience with millions of people around the world.”
Miranda, who starred in an update of Mary Poppinsin 2018, affirmed his connection with Disney. “I fell in love with musical storytelling growing up with the legendary Howard Ashman–Alan MenkenDisney collaborations – The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin,” he said. “I’m so proud of what Tommy Kail has been able to capture in this filmed version of Hamilton – a live theatrical experience that feels just as immediate in your local movie theater. We’re excited to partner with Disney to bring the original Broadway company of Hamilton to the largest audience possible.”
Kail added, “We are thrilled for fans of the show, and new audiences across the world, to experience what it was like on stage – and in the audience – when we shot this. … We wanted to give everyone the same seat, which is what this film can provide.”
According to sources, Disney beat out other suitors and paid $75 million for worldwide rights to the show that won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, as well as the Pulitzer Prizefor Drama. Disney won the deal with a commitment for a wide global theatrical release for the 2 hour, 40 minute movie, which was shot two weeks before the original cast left.
The official trailer for the second season of CBS All Access’ anthology drama Tell Me a Story, starring the 34-year-old Colombian and Cuban American actress, has been released.
“I know you are in living hell right now. I know you think that things can’t get any worse. But it can. Believe me,” says the trailer.
Created and written by executive Kevin Williamson, Tell Me a Storytakes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller.
The 10-episode second season will feature the stories of three legendary princesses – from Beauty and the Beast,Sleeping Beautyand Cinderella– like they’ve never been seen before. It will follow the Pruitt family as they navigate love, loss, romance and terror against the iconic backdrop of Nashville.
Filmed on location in Music City, the sophomore run of the anthology from Kapital Entertainment stars Paul Wesley, Carrie-Anne Moss, Annable—who portrays Maddie, Eka Darville, Matt Lauria, Natalie Alyn Lind and Ashley Madekwe. Danielle Campbell returns to the series, recurring along with Garcelle Beauvais, Caleb Castille and Christopher Meyer.
Season 2 of Tell Me a Story starts streaming December 5 at CBS All Access, with new episodes debuting every Thursday.
The 33-year-old Mexican singer/actor is set to voice the character of Simba in the Spanish-dubbed version of Disney’s computer-animated remake of the 1994 classic movie, The Lion King.
Rivera, who rose to fame by becoming the winner of the third generation of La Academia, will be heard in the Spanish-dubbed version of the film in Latin America.
“The Lion King returns to surprise my life, it is my beautiful ‘Endless Cycle,’” wrote Rivera on social media.
This isn’t the first time Rivera has channeled his inner Simba. In 2011, he portrayed the beloved lion character in a musical of the same name.
“My dream was to play Simba in The Lion King. It was one of my good choices in life,” Rivera previously told Billboard. “It made me learn English, in case I was ever offered the role in English. Doing musical theater helped me a lot. I knew it would generate credibility and respect. There’s no cut-and-paste there.”
Rivera also starred in theBeauty and the Beastmusical, the first major Broadway-like production produced by Disney in Mexico and formed part of the soundtrack for Disney’sCoco with his heartwarming track “Recuerdame.”
Donald Glover is the voice of Simba in the English version of the film, which will be released on July 19.
The Latino actor has joined the cast of USA Network’s drama pilotQueen Of The South.
Based on the popular telenovela La Reina Del Sur, series centers on Teresa Mendoza (portrayed by Alice Braga), who’s forced to go on the run when her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico.
Martinez will recur as Gato Fierros, a right-hand man of drug lord Cesar Guemes, who seems to delight in making his victims suffer before he does away with them.
His previous television credits include appearances on Elementary, Beauty and the Beast, Unforgettable, Blue Bloods, Army Wives and Breaking Bad.
The Latino actor will appear in a multi-episode arc opposite David Duchovny in NBC‘s upcoming series Aquarius.
The gritty 1960s drama focuses on a cop (Duchovny) who goes undercover to track Charles Manson and the Manson Family before their infamous murder spree.
Martinez, who has appeared on Low Winter Sun and Breaking Bad, will portray Ruben Salazar, a former war correspondent and a reporter with the Los Angeles Times who is threatening to expose the true identity of an LAPD detective.
Martinez plays a supporting character in the upcoming Liam Neeson-helmed feature Run All Night.
His other credits include television appearances on Intelligence, Elementary, Unforgettable and Beauty and the Beast.
“The series follows eight characters around the world who, in the aftermath of a tragic death, find themselves linked to each other mentally and emotionally,” Straczynski told Deadline.com last month. “They can not only see and talk to each other as though they were in the same place, they have access to each other’s deepest secrets. Not only must they figure out what happened and why and what it means for the future of humanity, they must do so while being hunted by an organization out to capture, kill or vivisect them.”
There’s no word on Bautista’s character in the series, which also stars Alfonso Herrera, Tuppence Middleton, Aml Ameen, Freema Agyeman, Tena Desae, Doona Bae, Max Riemelt,Erendira Ibarra, Jamie Clayton and Miguel Silvestre.
He currently recurs on TNT’s The Last Ship and previously starred on The Shield, Beauty and the Beast and Prime Suspect.
Estimates have Barbie earning $91M-$93M range at 4,337 theaters —the best second weekend Warner Bros. has ever seen in their history. Barbie beats Dark Knight‘s weekend 2 of $75.1M.
