Tag Archives: Demian Bichir

Demián Bichir to Star in Jonas Cuaron’s Feature Film “Chupa”

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Demián Bichir is getting mythical…

The 57-year-old Mexican Oscar-nominated actor has joined the cast of Jonás Cuarón’s feature Chupa alongside Dominic Mariche, Adriel Manzano and Isabella Patron.

Demián Bichir

The film follows teenager Alex (Mariche), who while visiting his family in Mexico, gains an unlikely companion when he discovers a young chupacabra hiding in his grandpa’s shed. In order to save the mythical creature, Alex and his cousins (Manzano and Patron) must embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Cuarón and Tim Sexton wrote the most recent screenplay based on an original script by Marcus Rinehart, Sean Kennedy Moore and Joe Barnathan.

“Demián, Dominic, Adriel and Isabella all bring a genuineness to the characters they play,” says Cuarón. “Growing up in both Mexico and the US, I’m fortunate to have my own life experiences to inspire the stories that I tell. It’s even more special to have found a cast that is able to lend an additional layer of authenticity to Chupa.”

The film is part of 26th Street Pictures’ first look deal at Netflix. 26th’s Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe are producing. EPs are G. Mac Brown and Brendan Bellomo.

Columbus said, “A story is only as good as the actors who can make it come to life. Demián is an acclaimed actor and after an extensive search, we’re thrilled with the true talent we’ve found in Adriel, Isabela and Dominic, all of whom lend heart and authenticity to their roles. We can’t wait for people around the world to meet them and see just how special they make this film.”

Bichir’s feature credits include Land, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Midnight Sky, The Hateful Eight and Alien: Covenant. He received a 2012 Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his turn in A Better Life. 

Mariche starred on television shows like The Good Doctor, See and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.

Demián Bichir to Star in Showtime’s Vampire Drama Pilot “Let the Right One In”

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Demián Bichir is sinking his teeth into a new project…

Showtime has given a formal pilot green light to Let the Right One In, a vampire drama starring the 57-year-old Mexican Oscar-nominated actor.

Demian Bichir

The project hails from Andrew Hinderaker, who’ll serve as showrunner, Seith Mann, who will direct, and Tomorrow Studios, which has been the driver behind the project in its various incarnations for more than six years.

Inspired by the best-selling 2004 novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist and its 2008 Swedish film adaptation, the series centers on a father, Mark (Bichir) and his 12-year-old daughter whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the minimal amount of human blood she needs to stay alive.

Bichir’s Mark is a husband and father who had the perfect life until it was turned upside down by a mysterious creature who bit his daughter (Eleanor) and then vanished into the night.

Let the Right One In, which had been in the works at Showtime for awhile and recently started casting the male lead, is described as an elevated genre drama, which is turning a naturalistic lens on human frailty, strength and compassion.

“Let the Right One In quickly establishes itself as a thrilling, high-stakes drama that asks the question: How far would you go to save your child from the monsters out there – would you risk becoming a monster yourself?” said Amy Israel, Showtime’s EVP, Scripted Programming. “Demián Bichir is one of the world’s most dynamic and engrossing actors, and his charisma and vulnerability will surely bring Andrew Hinderaker’s exquisite script to life, guided by Seith Mann’s deft direction. We couldn’t be more excited about the potential of this show.”

Bichir will serve as a producer on the potential series.

“The series is both a love letter to the original film, and a story entirely our own,” said Hinderaker. “And casting a true artist like Demián epitomizes our bold aspiration to be one of the most terrifying shows on TV, and one of the most moving.”

Let the Right One In was originally developed by Tomorrow Studios and set up at A&E and A+E Studios in 2015. A year later, it moved to TNT where a pilot was ordered and cast but did not go to production. That version was closer to the original source material and was described as an eerie drama about a young boy, long tormented by his classmates, who finds solace in a friendship with a charismatic female vampire who appears to be near his age. Tomorrow Studios shopped the project and it ultimately landed at Showtime for redevelopment with a new writer.

Bichir received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film A Better Life, becoming the first Mexican-born actor to be nominated in that category since Anthony Quinn.

His most recent films include starring in George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky, Robin Wright’s Land and the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong.

Demián Bichir Among AARP The Magazine’s ‘Movies for Grownups Awards’ Winners

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Demián Bichir has landed another acting honor…

AARP The Magazine has announced the winners of its annual Movies for Grownups Awards, with the 57-year-old Mexican Oscar-nominated actor taking home a prize.

Demian Bichir, Land

Bichir was named Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Land opposite Robin Wright.

Bichir portrays soft-spoken local Miguel, who meets Edee (Wright) just in time to save Edee (Wright), not only physically but spiritually. Over the next few seasons, he teaches her how to live with the land rather than fight against it.

AARP, which advocates for the 50-plus audience and with its awards highlights films that resonate with older viewers, also featured television categories for the first time.

The Movies for Grownups Awards will air its ceremony on March 28 on PBS’ Great Performances with Today’s Hoda Kotb as host.

Here’s the full list of winners:

MOVIES

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups
The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Best Actress
Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead)

Best Actor
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Best Supporting Actress
Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)

Best Supporting Actor
Demián Bichir (Land)

Best Director
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Screenwriter
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Ensemble
One Night in Miami

Best Intergenerational
Minari

Best Buddy Picture
Da 5 Bloods

Best Time Capsule
Mank

Best Grownup Love Story
Supernova

Best Documentary
A Secret Love

Best Foreign Film/Best International Film
Collective (Romania)

TELEVISION

Best Actress
Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)

Best Actor
Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)

Best Series
This Is Us (NBC)

Best TV Movie/Limited Series
The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Career Achievement
George Clooney

Demián Bichir Earns Movies for Grownups Awards Nomination from AARP

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Demián Bichir has landed on an awards list…

The AARP has announced its nominees for the upcoming Movies for Grownups Awards, with the 57-year-old Oscar-nominated actor earning a nod.

Demian Bichir

Bichir is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance as Miguel, a local hunter, in the drama Land.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who earned a USC Libraries Scripter Award nomination last month, is nominated in the Best Screenwriter category for penning Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, while Colman Domingo and his cast mates are nominated in the Best Ensemble category for their work in the drama, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson.

Two Latin films are in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film prize.

Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles are representing Brazil with their western thriller Bacurau, which Barack Obama chose as one of his favorites of 2020, while Juan José Campanella’s The Weasels‘ Tale is representing Argentina.

For two decades, AARP’s Movies for Grownups program has championed what it calls “movies for grownups, by grownups.” It claims to advocate for the 50-plus audience, fighting industry ageism and encouraging films that resonate with older viewers. AARP’s Movies for Grownups continues its commitment to celebrate quality content by expanding to honor standout television programs in new categories.

Hoda Kotb, NBC News’ Today coanchor and cohost of Today with Hoda & Jenna, will host the awards ceremony broadcast by Great Performances on Sunday, March 28 at 8:00 pm ET on PBS, its PBS.org website for the event, and the PBS Video app. Winners will be announced on March 4 on the website section dedicated to the event.

George Clooney will receive the Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Film

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups
Minari
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Best Actress
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead)
Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit)
Robin Wright (Land)

Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes (The Dig)
Tom Hanks (News of the World)
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)
Gary Oldman (Mank)

Best Supporting Actress
Candice Bergen (Let Them All Talk)
Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman)
Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)
Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)
Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Best Supporting Actor
Demián Bichir (Land)
Bill Murray (On the Rocks)
Clarke Peters (Da 5 Bloods)
Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)
Mark Rylance (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Director
Lee Daniels (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Regina King (One Night in Miami)
Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

Best Ensemble
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
One Night in Miami
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Intergenerational
Hillbilly Elegy
Minari
On the Rocks
The Father
The Life Ahead

Best Buddy Picture
Bad Boys for Life
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Da 5 Bloods
Let Them All Talk
Standing Up, Falling Down

Best Screenwriter
Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)
Paul Greengrass, Luke Davies (News of the World)
Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Time Capsule
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
One Night in Miami
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Grownup Love Story
Emma
Ordinary Love
Supernova
Wild Mountain Thyme
Working Man

Best Documentary
A Secret Love
Crip Camp
Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy
Dick Johnson Is Dead
Sky Blossom: Diaries of the Next Greatest Generation

Best Foreign Language Film
Another Round (Denmark)
Bacurau (Brazil)
Collective (Romania)
The Life Ahead (Italy)
The Weasels’ Tale (Argentina)

Television

Best Series
Perry Mason
Succession
Ted Lasso
The Crown
This Is Us

Best TV Movie/Limited Series
Mrs. America
Small Axe
The Queen’s Gambit
Unorthodox
Watchmen

Best Actress (TV/Streaming)
Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show)
Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America)
Regina King (Watchmen)
Laura Linney (Ozark)
Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)

Best Actor (TV/Streaming)
Jason Bateman (Ozark)
Ted Danson (The Good Place)
Hugh Grant (The Undoing)
Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird)
Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)

Ricardo de Montreuil to Co-Write & Direct the Social Thriller “Daniel”

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Ricardo de Montreuil is ready to thrill…

The 46-year-old Peruvian filmmaker has signed on to direct and co-write the social thriller Daniel with first-time feature writer Owen Renfroe.

Ricardo de Montreuil

The story follows, Daniel, an unlicensed Latinx doctor who works for a dying billionaire on his private, remote estate. When he suddenly uncovers a sinister secret about his boss’s foster daughter, he must fight for the life he worked so hard to build. The film is the first social thriller to tackle head-on the plight of Latinx professionals and the struggles they endure in dealing with systemic discrimination.

“Daniel explores the very real struggles that minorities and disenfranchised groups have to endure in America, at a historic time when these pressures are finally getting broadly exposed,” said de Montreuil.

Montreuil broke onto the scene when he was tapped by Blumhouse to direct the coming-of-age drama Lowriders in 2016. The film stars Demian Bichir, Eva Longoria and Gabriel Chavarria and earned strong reviews with Montreuil landing a number of jobs following its release.

He’s currently attached to direct several episodes of the new George Lopez and STXtv series Once Upon A Time In Aztlan.

Demian Bichir’s “The Nun” Becomes Highest-Grossing Title in “The Conjuring” Universe

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Demian Bichir is conjuring up a massive haul at the box office…

New Line’s The Nun, starring the 55-year-old Mexican actor, has officially become the highest-grossing title in The Conjuring universe with a running global total of $330Mafter this weekend, besting the $320M worldwide haul of The Conjuring 2 which previously owned that record.

Demian Bichir

With a net production cost of $22M, The Nun is bound for at least a $100M-plus profit after all ancillaries when you consider that The Conjuring 2 minted close to that figure off a production cost that was close to double that plus $100M P&A costs.

Annabelle: Creation last year with a combined P&A and production cost of $115M saw $306.5M in global ticket sales which ultimately yielded $108.7M in black ink.

Much of The Nun‘s success has been driven by Spanish-speaking markets abroad with Mexico being the top with $21.5M followed by Brazil second with $17M. Spain is up in the top territories as well with $10.5M while Columbia has grossed $6.2M. In the U.S., Hispanic audiences have accounted for close to a third of Nun‘s $109M business where it was a key film for sending the September domestic B.O.  to its second-best level yet with $659.6M.

While the Corin Hardy-directed pic didn’t open in any new markets this weekend, it was the top title at the overseas box office this weekend with $16.2M in its fourth go-round in 80 overseas territories and 9,987 screens and running total of $221M; that’s also the best international take for a Conjuring movie ever. France was the top territory for Nun in weekend dos with $2.3M, the No. 1 film in the country with $7.4M running cume. Russia was the second-best market over the last three days with $1.7M in its second weekend at 1,795 screens for a running total of $7.2M.

ABC Picks Up Roselyn Sanchez’s “Grand Hotel” to Series

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Life is Grand for Roselyn Sanchez…

ABC has picked up the drama Grand Hotel, starring the 45-year-old Puerto Rican actress and former Devious Maids star, to series.

Roselyn Sanchez

Executive produced by Eva Longoria, the series also stars Mexican actor and Oscar nominee Demian Bichir.

Based on the Spanish series Gran Hotel, the bold, provocative drama is set at the last family-owned hotel in multicultural Miami Beach. Charismatic Santiago Mendoza owns the hotel, while his glamorous second wife, Gigi, and their adult children enjoy the spoils of success. The hotel’s loyal staff round out a contemporary, fresh take on an upstairs/downstairs story. Wealthy and beautiful guests bask in luxury, but scandals, escalating debt and explosive secrets hide beneath the picture-perfect exterior.

In addition to Bichir as Santiago Mendoza and Sanchez as Gigi Mendoza, the series also stars Denyse Tontz, Bryan Craig, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Lincoln Younes, Shalim Ortiz, Anne Winters, Chris Warren, Feliz Ramirez and Justina Adorno.

Ken Olin directed the pilot, with the series being produced by ABC Studios.

Olmos to Take Part in Center Theatre Group’s 50th Anniversary Event

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It’s a special homecoming for Edward James Olmos…

The 70-year-old Mexican American actor will take part in a star-studded event to celebrate the Center Theatre Group’s 50 years of excellence.

Edward James Olmos

The event will feature a one-night-only production from writer, director and producer Robert Egan, followed by dinner in downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park.

Co-Chairs Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Sue Tsao, Center Theatre Group board member will be joined by celebrated alumni like Olmos, Alfred Molina, Annette Bening, Matthew Bourne, Danai Gurira, Phylicia Rashad and more.

The celebration, taking place on May 20 at the Ahmanson Theatre, will spotlight Center Theatre Group’s education and community outreach programs as well as its continuing role in creating new work and helping to define the role of theatre both in Los Angeles and beyond.

“We are thrilled to have so many incredible artists returning to help us celebrate this exciting milestone, and the power of theatre to shape the cultural landscape of Los Angeles,” said Center Theatre Group Board President Kiki Ramos Gindler. “Our 50th Anniversary Celebration will bring together some of our most beloved and talented artists to reflect on Center Theatre Group’s proud history of world-class productions, innovative programs and field-defining new work.”

Olmos, an Academy Award nominee for his performance in Stand and Deliver, starred in the in the Center Theatre Group’s production of the Chicano protest musical Zoot Suit as El Pachuco back in 1978. Oscar-nominated actor Demian Bichir stepped into that role for the revival of the Luis Valdez play, also produced by the Center Theater Group.

Longoria to Star in Fox’s Workplace Comedy Pilot “Type-A”

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Eva Longoria is being Type(- A) cast…

The 42-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star will play the lead in Type-A, Fox’s single-camera workplace comedy pilot from the Life in Pieces duo of executive producer Jason Winer and writer-producer Lesley Wake-Webster.

Eva Longoria

Written by Wake-Webster and loosely based on the book Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James, Type-A — in the vein of Up in the Air — is an office comedy about a group of consultants hand-picked to do the dirty work most professionals can’t handle: layoffs, downsizing, generally delivering horrible news. To everyone else, they’re the enemy – to one another, they’re family.

Longoria will play Axler, the ambitious, brutally honest consultant who is at war with her inner “nice girl.”

Winer is directing as well as executive producing with Wake-Webster, while James serves as consultant for 20th Century Fox Television.

Fox and 20th have been high on Longoria, courting her for multiple projects. She also is set for a high-profile guest-starring turn this spring on the Fox flagship drama series Empire, playing Charlotte Frost, the formidable director of the Nevada Gaming Commission who has the power to make or break Lucious’ (Terrence Howard) dreams of expanding Empire’s reach to Las Vegas.

Through her production company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, Longoria executive produced the Lifetime series Devious Maids and NBC comedy Telenovela, in which she also starred.

Longoria next stars opposite Demian Bichir in the feature Lowriders and is featured in the British miniseries Decline and Fall opposite Jack Whitehall, which premieres in the spring. She recently directed an episode of the CW’s Jane the Virgin and is set to direct an episode of ABC’s Black-ish.

New Trailer Released for Rapace’s Sci-Fi Thriller “Alien: Covenant”

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It’s another day in space for Noomi Rapace…

20th Century Fox has released the new trailer for Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi thriller Alien: Covenant, the latest chapter in the Alien franchise, starring the 37-year-old half-Spanish actress.

Noomi Rapace

The new clip audiences know that “the path to paradise begins in hell,” and begins with Katherine Waterston and the crew aboard the colony ship, Covenant.”

As the team explores undiscovered territory, danger and extraterrestrial species – including Xenomorphs – lurk all around. The sequel to Prometheus follows the team as it heads for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. When the crew thinks it has found uncharted land, it discovers a dark and dangerous world. Uncovering a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Michael Fassbender stars as David, with Rapace reprising her role as Elizabeth Shaw. Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez and Billy Crudup round out the cast.

Scott directs from a script by John Logan and Dante Harper.

Alien: Covenant arrives in theaters on May 19.