Tag Archives: CIA

Zoe Saldaña to Star in & Executive Produce the CIA Drama “Lioness”

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Zoe Saldaña is roaring into her latest role…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress will star in Lioness, a film she will executive produce alongside Nicole Kidman and others.

Zoe SaldañaLioness is based on a real-life CIA program and follows a U.S. Marines recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist to bring the organization down from within.

Saldaña stars as Joe, a strong-willed, hard-nosed station chief of the CIA’s Lioness Program, who is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives working to assassinate the world’s most dangerous terrorists.

Production on the film will begin in June.

Saldaña is best known for her work in Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek and Avatar.

Alanna Ubach to Appear on Season 2 of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant”

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Alanna Ubach is taking Flight…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress will appear on Season 2 of HBO Max’s critically acclaimed series The Flight Attendant as a recurring guest star.

Alanna UbachUbach will appear in the new season—which is currently in production—alongside returning series regulars Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet, Griffin Matthews, Deniz Akdeniz and Rosie Perez; new series regulars Mo McRae, Callie Hernandez and JJ Soria; returning recurring guest stars T.R. Knight, Yasha Jackson and Audrey Grace Marshall; and new recurring guest stars Cheryl Hines, Jessie Ennis, Mae Martin, Margaret Cho, Santiago Cabrera and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

The Max Original, based on Chris Bohjalian’s 2018 novel of the same name, centers on Cassie Bowden (Cuoco), a reckless flight attendant with an alcohol problem who in Season 1, wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man—and no idea what happened.

Season 2 finds Cassie living her best sober life in Los Angeles while moonlighting as a CIA asset in her spare time. But when an overseas assignment leads her to inadvertently witness a murder, she becomes entangled in another international brouhaha.

Ubach will play Carol Atkinson, also known as Black Market Carol, a perfectly groomed, icy flight attendant who is not a fan of Cassie.

Ubach is best known for her work in the Legally Blonde films, along with her turn as Mamá Imelda in Disney/Pixar’s Coco, and as Jo Hernandez-Frumpkis in the Bravo series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.

She recurs opposite Kate Beckinsale on the Paramount+ series Guilty Party, and will return for the sophomore seasons of Disney+’s Monsters at Work, HBO’s Euphoria, and Hulu’s Crossing Swords.

The actress has also appeared in Netflix’s Maya and the Three, Fox’s Filthy Rich, FX’s Snowfall, AMC’s Dietland, Amazon’s Hand of God, Showtime’s Californication and HBO’s Hung, among others.

Additional film credits include Bombshell, Gloria Bell, To the Bone, Bad Teacher, Rango, Waiting… and its sequel Still Waiting… and Clockwatchers.

Netflix Gives Series Order to Monica Barbaro’s Global Spy Adventure with Arnold Schwarzenegger

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The spy’s the limit for Monica Barbaro…

Netflix has given an eight-episode series order to an untitled one-hour global spy adventure starring the 30-year-old part Mexican American actress and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Monica Barbaro,

In his first major foray into scripted television, Schwarzenegger will also executive produce the series.

The streamer landed the Skydance TV-produced hourlong series in a competitive situation last November for development with a script-to-series commitment.

In the series, created by Nick Santora, when a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) learn that they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years, they realize their entire relationship has been a lie and they truly don’t know one another at all. Forced to team up as partners, our series tackles universal family dynamics set against a global backdrop of spies, fantastic action and humor.

“Fans from all over the world have been asking me for a wild ride like this for years, and now they’re finally going to get it because of our great partners at Skydance and Netflix,” Schwarzenegger said. “I am beyond pumped to start work on the show with Nick and Monica and the whole team.”

Santora created and developed the original idea and is executive producing the untitled series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television. The project was developed internally at Skydance TV and the independent studio cast the two leads before taking it out to the streaming marketplace.

Barbaro’s previous credits include her roles as Yael in season 2 of Unreal and as Cora Vasquez in The Good Cop.

Noah Centineo to Star in Netflix Espionage Drama from Entertainment One & Hypnotic

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Noah Centineo is heading into the spy business….

In a competitive situation, Netflix has landed an untitled espionage drama from Entertainment One and Hypnotic that is a star vehicle for the 24-year-old part-Puerto Rican actor.

Noah Centineo

The hourlong series, which has received an eight-episode order, is created by The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley who will serve as showrunner. Hawley and Centineo will be executive producers.

Centineo will play a fledgling lawyer at the CIA who becomes enmeshed in dangerous international power politics when a former asset threatens to expose the nature of her long-term relationship with the agency, unless they exonerate her of a serious crime. Originally, the working series title was Graymail, a term that refers to the threatened revelation of state secrets. Netflix hasn’t set a firm title yet.

The Fosters alum Centineo’s breakout turn came at Netflix through the film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, in which he played Peter Kavinsky in the film adaptation of the Jenny Han novel. He was awarded an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, reprised in a sequel and shot the third and final film in the series.

He’s also starring in Black Adam, which is set for release on July 29, 2022 through Warner Bros.

Aubrey Plaza to Star Opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s Next Thriller

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Aubrey Plaza is ready to thrill…

The 36-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress will star in Guy Ritchie’s untitled thriller film, which began shooting in Doha, Qatar, this week.

Aubrey Plaza

Plaza stars opposite British rapper Bugzy Malone, Jason Statham and Cary Elwes in the project, which will also shoot in Antalya, Turkey.

The film reunites Ritchie with Statham, marking their second film together for Miramax following Wrath of Man.

“Guy and Jason have repeatedly impressed audiences with their collaborations, and we’re looking forward to bringing this production to the city of Doha, Qatar, a growing market in the entertainment and media space,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Miramax-owner beIN Media Group.

“This film marks our third collaboration with Ritchie, adding to our expanding list of nearly 20 projects having been released or currently in production since beIN’s acquisition of Miramax – a testament to our continued success achieving the target goals we set forth for the studio’s evolution while remaining committed to prioritizing investments in innovative and culturally relevant films.”

In the film, MI6 guns-and-steel agent Orson Fortune (Statham) is recruited by a global intelligence agency to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert Sarah Fidel, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use his charm, ingenuity and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds.

Ritchie will direct and produce from a screenplay written by Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies.

STX will distribute directly in the U.S., UK and Ireland.

Plaza’s previous film credits include Happiest Season, Ingrid Goes West and Dirty Grandpa.

Ana de Armas to Star Opposite Ryan Gosling & Chris Evans in Netflix’s “The Gray Man”

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It’s a case of gray matters for Ana de Armas.

The 32-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress will star opposite Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in Joe and Anthony Russo’s big-budget action thriller The Gray Man for Netflix.

Ana de Armas

The Russos have been developing the project for awhile at Sony Pictures, and when the package went back on the market over the summer, Netflix was quick to acquire it and set Gosling and Evans to star. The film will be the biggest-budget film in Netflix’s history on the feature side.

The Russos penned the script with a recent polish by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry.

The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.

de Armas has been on a roll as of late, going back to her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the murder mystery Knives Out. She also recently was seen in the Netflix pic Sergio, The Informer and The Night Clerk. With the Covid-19 pandemic delaying several films, her 2021 is expected to be equally busy as she can be seen in the next James Bond film No Time to Die and the New Regency thriller Deep Water opposite Ben Affleck. She is also set to star in Blonde, where she portrays Norma Jean.

Aubrey Plaza to Star Opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s Next Thriller

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High five to Aubrey Plaza!

The 36-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/comedian is set to star Jason Statham in the Guy Ritchie untitled thriller formally known as Five Eyes. Miramax is producing and financing with STX handling distribution.

Aubrey Plaza

The story follows MI6 guns-and-steel agent (Statham) who’s recruited by a global intelligence alliance to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use all of his charm, ingenuity and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker.

 

The film will be produced Bill Block for Miramax, which is also fully financing the film.

Ritchie will direct and produce from a screenplay written by The Gentlemen scribes Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies with revisions by Ritchie.

The news comes after Plaza’s scene-stealing role in the romantic comedy Happiest Season, which earned her critical acclaim and a massive amount of praise across social media.

She can be seen next in Lawrence Levine’s Black Bear on December 4th.  The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and garnered Plaza rave reviews for her performance.

She recently recently wrapped production on Lina Roessler’s Best Sellers starring opposite Michael Caine. Plaza most recently received critical acclaim for her role in Ingrid Goes West, which she produced and won the 2018 Independent Spirit Award for “Best First Feature.” Additionally, she recently starred in Noah Hawley’s television series, Legion on FX.

Universal Pictures Releases First Trailer for Penelope Cruz’s Female-Fronted Espionage Thriller “The 355”

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Penélope Cruz is ready to demonstrate her intelligence…

Universal Pictures has released the official trailer for the espionage thriller The 355, starring the 46-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress..

Penelope Cruz

In addition to Cruz, the female-fronted globetrotting actioner stars Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing, Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramírez.

Universal still has plans to release the film on January 15 in the United States.

Simon Kinberg directs the story that kicks off when a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands. Wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Kruger), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Nyong’o) and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Fan) who is tracking their every move.

The action-packed trailer sees Chastain recruit her team of international special agents, who must bond against a common enemy. If they don’t stop them, “they’ll start World War III,” says Chastain’s Mace.

The picture came together during the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, where it was the hottest project in the market. The hope is to launch a franchise based on an idea by Chastain of a Bourne Identity-like thriller revolving around female spies from agencies around the world.

Shooting took place last summer in locations like Paris, London and Morocco — each of which figures lushly in the trailer above.

Theresa Rebeck and Kinberg wrote the script.

MGM Moves Release Date of “No Time to Die,” Starring Ana de Armas, to Easter 2021

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Ana de Armas’ big Bond moment will have to wait…

MGM’s latest James Bond film No Time to Die, starring the 32-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress, is officially moving to April 2, Easter weekend, and vacating its November 20 release date.

Ana de Armas, No Time to Die

This puts the Bond film starring Daniel Craig on the same weekend with Universal Pictures’ F9. 

“MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of No Time To Die, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience. We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing No Time To Die next year,” said the studio in a statement.

MGM was the first studio to foresee how the coronavirus pandemic was going to stall exhibition, and jumped No Time to Die from its Easter weekend release date of April 10-12 to the Thanksgiving frame.

No Time to Die stands to make $1 billion worldwide, so the studio has pushed back the release date several times now in hopes of having it come out in an optimum, vibrant global marketplace.

de Armas will be making her debut in the film, portraying the character of Paloma, a CIA agent assisting Bond.

Luis Jose Lopez to Appear on CBS’ Military Drama Series “SEAL Team”

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Luis Jose Lopez is joining the Team…

The Dominican actor has booked a recurring role on the third season of CBS’ military drama series SEAL Team.

Luis Jose Lopez

Starring David Boreanaz, SEAL Team follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALsas they train, plan and execute the most dangerous missions that our country can ask of them. 

Lopez will play Carlos Ramos, a CIAagent operating under a NOC (Non-Official Cover) who has been discovered/captured by the Venezuelan government. He’s being held captive and risks being moved from South America to Middle East. His previous television credits include For the People and the miniseries When We Rise, and in film he was seen in Jungle and American Sniper.