Zoe Saldana to Star in Fact-Based Thriller “Sabaya”

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Zoe Saldana is ready to thrill…

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress will star in Sabaya, a fact-based thriller that Reed Morano will direct based on a William Monahan script about the unlikely circumstances that made possible a 2015 U.S. Special Forces raid that killed a top ISIS leader and started the downfall of the radical Islamic State.

Saldana will play a female CIAofficer who befriended a recently escaped ISIS sex slave, or “sabaya.” The 15-year-old Yazidi girl can neither read nor write, but as she works with the teen to piece together her harrowing odyssey out of Syria, the CIA officer finds that the abused girl has pinpointed the nerve center of the Caliphate. The subsequent dramatic raid on the site of the young woman’s captivity results in the capture of intelligence that would spell the end of the Islamic State.

The story comes from Spycraft Entertainment, a production company headed by Grant Verstandig and former CIA officers John Sipherand Jerry O’Shea, who work with retired members of the intelligence community to create and develop content based on their true stories.

“It is an honor to be a part of the telling of this story,” said Saldana. “This young woman’s journey is one for the books, and I am beyond grateful we will get to immortalize it on the silver screen.”

Morano has called Sabaya “a larger than life epic but it’s also an intimate, raw portrait of a young girl’s determination and the bond that forms between these two women. I’ve not seen such a mind-blowing adventure that is simultaneously so emotionally transcendent, from these perspectives before. I’m thrilled to be telling this powerful story with the incredible Bill and Zoe.”

Monahan called Sabaya “the best material for an emotionally powerful theatrical war film that I have seen in ages and I don’t say that lightly. It’s a story of doing the right thing against desperate odds, and if you think about it, no film that’s any good is about anything else whatsoever. Sabaya is what the big screen is for, and this dream team we’ve got is all out for [it].”

Saldana’s previous credits include the Guardians of the Galaxy/ the Avengers franchise films, the Avatar franchise, and the Star Trek franchise films.

FX Renews Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s Drama “Snowfall” for Fourth Season

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

There’s more snowfall in Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s future…

Nearly five episodes in to its third season, FX has ordered a fourth season of Snowfall, its acclaimed drama series about the start of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles, starring the 44-year-old Spanish actor.

Created by John Singleton& Eric Amadioand Dave Andron, Snowfall Season 4 will premiere on FX in 2020.

The third season, currently airing, is set in the summer of 1984. Crack cocaine is spreading like wildfire through South Central Los Angeles, continuing its path of destruction and changing the culture forever. Police are waking up to this growing epidemic, and Sergeant Andre Wright (Marcus Henderson) has set his sights on budding Kingpin and next door neighbor Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) and his people. While local law enforcement fights to stem the tide, Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson) and the CIA are working hard to make sure the flow of cocaine into LA doesn’t stop. To continue funding the war against communism in Central America, Teddy will need to find new routes into the United States using Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Peris-Mencheta) and what’s left of the Villanueva family. As the stakes and losses continue to mount our players truly begin to understand the destructive force they have set in motion and must reexamine their own motivations and the cost of continuing forward from here.

The series is produced by FX Productions.

Ana de Armas to Star in Bond 25 Film

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

There’s a special Bondin Ana de Armas’ future…

The producers of Bond 25 have revealed key cast and production details from Jamaica, the iconic location for previous Bond films including Dr. No and Live and Let Die.

Broadcasting live on Twitter, the production confirmed incoming cast including the 30-year-old Spanish/Cuban actress.

de Armas previously starred in another high-profile film, Blade Runner 2049, which earned her a Saturn Awardnomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to de Armas, other cast members include Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, and Dali Benssalah.

Returning franchise cast members include Ralph Fiennes, Lea Seydoux,Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Rory Kinnearand Ben Whishaw. Daniel Craig returns as James Bond.

A title wasn’t revealed but producer Barbara Broccolisaid the film will start in Jamaica where “Bond is not on active service, he is enjoying himself. We’ve got quite a ride in store for him.” His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from theCIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

The production has already shot in Norway and will head over to the UK’s Pinewood studio then onto Matera in Italy. The movie will be the first Bond to use IMAXcameras.

Cary Joji Fukunagais writer-director. Malek is expected to portray the film’s villain.

The film recently had a release date change from February 14 2020 to April 8 2020. Additional writers on the script were today confirmed as Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, Scott Z Burnsand Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

MGM will release the film domestically through their United Artists Releasingbanner on April 8. It will go through Universal Pictures International and MGM in the UK and internationally from April 3, 2020.

Coral Peña Lands Recurring Role on NBC’s “The Enemy Within”

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Coral Peña has found an Enemy…

The Latina actress and 24: Legacy alumna has landeda recurring role opposite Morris Chestnutand Jennifer Carpenterin NBC’s The Enemy Within.

From Gotham executive producer Ken Woodruff, Matt Corman, Chris Ordand Universal Television, the project was written and executive produced by Woodruff and with a pilot directed by Mark Pellington.

The Enemy Within is a fast-paced thriller set in the world of counterintelligence.

Peña will play Anna Cruz, an ambitiousCIAanalyst enlisted by FBISpecial Agent, Will Keaton (Chestnut) to assist in the hunt for a former Russian SVR agent turned rogue operative who’s responsible for the deaths of her fellow CIA officers. Cruz’s arrival tests the limits of the unprecedented partnership between Keaton and former CIA Deputy Director turned traitor, Erica Shepherd (Carpenter).

Peña was a series regular on Fox’s 24: Legacy opposite Corey Hawkinsand Miranda Otto and appeared recently in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film The Post.

The Enemy Within is set for a midseason debut on NBC.

del Toro to Star in “Sicario” sequel, “Soldado”

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio del Toro is ready to soldier on…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star in Soldado, the second installment of the drug war thriller that began with 2015’s Sicario.

Hailing from Lionsgate and Black Label Media, the sequel focuses on Alejandro Gillick, the shadowy protagonist played by del Toro, and Josh Brolin’s CIA agent Matt Graver, who in the first film established themselves as hell bent on hunting down cartel kingpins, no matter what.

Soldado, which was scripted by Taylor Sheridan, does not include the FBI agent character played by Emily Blunt in Sicario.

In the film, Gillick and Graver concern themselves with what is being smuggled across the border between Mexico and the U.S. in the tunnels used to move drugs and illegal immigrants. Those tunnels also can be used to bring terrorists into the U.S.

Italian director Stefano Sollima is the front-runner to direct the second installment. Denis Villenueve directed the first film.

del Toro to Star in Cuban Mafia-Themed Film “The Corporation”

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio del Toro is joining the Cuban mafia…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican-American actor will star in The Corporation, which takes place over the decades between the 1950s and 1980s in Miami and New York.

Based on T.J. English’s yet-to-be-published book The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, del Toro will play Jose Miguel Battle Sr., who leads the eponymous and hugely powerful Cuban mafia. Born in Havana, Battle escaped to the U.S. following the rise of Fidel Castro. Alongside his team of fellow Cubans, Battle was trained by the CIA so that he could fight in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Despite his name, things didn’t go so well for Battle during the attempted invasion, as he was captured, which led to him being imprisoned inside a Cuban prison. Battle failed to find the light side during his incarceration, and, when he was released, he headed straight back to the U.S. where he set off to build a huge criminal empire alongside the same posse of men that he fought with. His empire revolved around drug trafficking, gambling, and, even murder, and made him one of the most powerful crime bosses in the US until his death in 2007.

The nonfiction book will be published in winter 2017 by William Morrow. It’s being called a Cuban version of The Godfather and American Gangster.

del Toro is coming off a sizzling performance in Sicario, and this is an opportunity to play another badass character.

Paramount Studios and Appian Way have the film rights.

Cuesta to Direct the Drama “Code Name Veil”

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Cuesta is ready to break the code…

The 51-year-old Latino film and television director will direct the drama Code Name Veil.

The Matt Billingsly-scripted film is inspired by true events. It follows a rookie CIA agent who investigates the first terrorist attacks against America—the Embassy and Marine barracks bombings in Beirut in 1983. When his station chief and mentor is taken hostage, he must resort to desperate measures, unwittingly becoming part of the scandal that would become known as Iran-Contra. That subject played into Kill The Messenger, about how a newspaper journalist was smeared for reporting on the CIA’s role in the infiltration of crack cocaine into the U.S.

Cuesta most recently directed the Jeremy Renner-scripted Kill the Messenger. He also directed the pilot of Showtime’s Homeland and serves as the series’ executive producer.

Michael Douglas & Orlando Bloom to Star Opposite Rapace in “Unlocked”

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Noomi Rapace has unlocked the secret to the co-stars in her upcoming film…

Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom have signed on to star opposite the 34-year-old half-Spanish actress in filmmaker Michael Apted’s thriller Unlocked.

The film centers on a CIA interrogator who unwittingly provides information to terrorists planning to wage a biological warfare attack on London.

Apted is set to begin shooting Nov. 3 from a script by Peter O’Brien. In the film, the CIA officer, played by Repace, rushes to stop the attack.

“I am delighted to introduce this fresh, smart European thriller to buyers in Toronto,” said Alex Walton, who is representing international rights and are pre-selling the project to foreign buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival. “With three major studio movies in production, Noomi Rapace is becoming one of the hottest female international stars working today. When you add Michael Apted, Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom, you have a commercial package that I am confident will draw strong interest.”

Trailer Released for the Cuesta-Directed “Kill the Messenger,” Starring Jeremy Renner

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Cuesta is ready to kill the messenger…

The first trailer for Jeremy Renner‘s Kill the Messenger, helmed by the 50-year-old television and film director, borrows the visual style, tone and ripped-from-the-headlines subject material of American Hustle.

Kill the Messenger is a dramatization of journalist Gary Webb‘s investigation into a CIA conspiracy in Nicaragua that led to a series of articles titled Dark Alliance for The San Jose Mercury News that caused a firestorm of controversy.

“Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications,” the film’s synopsis reads.

The cast also features Paz Vega, Rosemarie DeWitt and Ray Liotta

The Focus Features biopic was written by Parkland scribe Peter Landesman based on Nick Schou‘s book Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb.

The film is set for U.S. release in October.

El Rey Network Releases Trailer for Luna’s New Drama Series “Matador”

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Gabriel Luna’s ready to take the soccer field…

El Rey Network has released the trailer for its upcoming action drama series Matador, which stars the 31-year-old Latino American actor.

From Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie, Roberto Orci and Andrew Orci, the series stars Luna as Antonio “Matador” Bravo, a popular soccer star who in reality uses his sports career as a cover for his skilled covert operative executing missions for a little-known branch of the CIA.

The international cast also includes Alfred Molina, Nicky Whelan, Neil Hopkins, Tanc Sade, Yvette Monreal, Elizabeth Peña, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Sammi Rotibi, Jonny Cruz, Isabella Gomez and Peter Gadiot.

Matador premieres on July 15, two days after the World Cup final, on Robert Rodriguez’s network.

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