Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna to Star in Hulu’s Spanish-Language Boxing Series “La Máquina”

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna are ringing in a new project…

The 43-year-old Mexican actor and producer and the 42-year-old Mexican actor, singer, director, and producer will star in La Máquina, a Spanish-language boxing series for Hulu.

Bernal and Luna, who first worked together on Y Tu Mamá También, will star and produce the series for the streamer.

La Máquina is produced by Searchlight Television, the Disney-owned television arm of Searchlight Pictures and marks its third series for the streamer following The Dropout and History of the World, Part II.

Daredevil’s Marco Ramirez will serve as showrunner and Gabriel Ripstein will direct.

García Bernal and Luna will produce under their La Corriente del Golfo banner along with Gerardo Gatica, Leandro Halperin and Adam Fishbach.

La Máquina follows an aging boxer, played by García Bernal, whose crafty manager, played by Luna, secures him one last shot at a title. But to make it to fight night, they must navigate a mysterious underworld force.

“We are proud to partner again with Searchlight Television on this forthcoming Hulu Original. Gael, Diego and Marco are world class storytellers and we look forward to bringing audiences their story and experiencing alongside them this last shot their characters get together,” said Craig Erwich, President, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment.

“It is a real honor to unite Gael and Diego onscreen again for La Máquina, their friendship and chemistry is a joy to experience,” added Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. “And we’re delighted to be working with Marco, whose unique voice and vision allows us to explore this world in a wholly original way.”

García Bernal recently starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old and HBO Max’s Station Eleven, while Luna was one of the voices in animated film DC League of Super Pets alongside Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart and stars in the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars series Andor.

Jacob Vargas to Appear on Disney+’s TV Series “National Treasure”

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jacob Vargas is treasuring his latest gig…

The 50-year-old Mexican-American actor and performer has landed a heavily recurring role in National Treasure, Disney Branded Television’s television series for Disney+ produced by ABC Signature.

Executive produced by the films’ producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, the project is an expansion of the National Treasure film franchise told from the point of view of young heroine Jess (Lisette Olivera), a DREAMer in search of answers about her family who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about the past and save a lost Pan-American treasure.

The series, whose pilot episode is written by the Wibberleys and will be directed by Mira Nair, centers on Jess, a Latina whose brilliant and resourceful mind loves a good mystery, and she has a natural talent for solving puzzles. Over the course of the show, Jess will uncover her own buried history, as well as the truth about her parents and her connection to a long-lost treasure.

Vargas plays Rafael a rugged, treasure-obsessed, adventurous soul with a good sense of humor.

Vargas recently portrayed Tony Ochoa on Mr. Iglesias for Netflix. He also recurred on Mayans M.C. and appeared on Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy.

On the film side, he most recently was seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi. His other film credits include Princess of the Row, The 33 and Diego Luna’s biopic Cesar Chavez.

Warner Bros. Animation Releases First Trailer for Diego Luna’s Animated Film “DC League of Super-Pets”

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a super time for Diego Luna.

Warner Bros. Animation has released the first official trailer for its upcoming DC League of Super-Pets, starring the 41-year-old Mexican actor/director/producer.

Produced by and starring Dwayne Johnson, the film finds one (Super)man’s best friend his only hope. After Superman (John Krasinski) is sidelined by Lex Luthor, the Man of Steel’s faithful companion, Krypto, sets out to save the day.

While Superman has Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League at his side, Krypto has only “a bunch of shelter pets” who, luckily, have been imbued with superpowers.

Johnson plays Krypto, while his ragtag band is made up of Ace (Kevin Hart), a hound who has super strength; PB (Vanessa Bayer), a pig named who can grow to a massive-size instantly; Merton (Natasha Lyonne) a turtle with super speed; and Chip (Luna), a squirrel who can shoot electricity from his tiny fingertips.

“My best friend is in trouble and you have to help me,” says Krypto, rallying the troops. What follows is an adventure full of challenges, surprises and potty humor.

The project reps Johnson’s second with DC after the New Line/DC movie Black Adam, in which he plays the title character, with his Seven Bucks producing.

DC League Of Super-Pets marks the Johnson’s third theatrically-released animated film, after Planet 51 and Moana.

Luna has previously been part of the voice cast of The Book of Life and Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans.

Adria Arjona to Star in & Executive Produce the Drama “Los Frikis”

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Adria Arjona is getting Friki…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star and executive produce the drama Los Frikis.

Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz will be writing and directing the film.

The film is based on the true story of punk-rock teenagers in Havana who deliberately inject themselves with HIV to escape the oppression of “Special Period” Cuba.

Arjona has a busy year ahead, which includes a leading role in the Star Wars series Andor starring Diego Luna.

She can be seen next in Sony’s Morbius opposite Jared Leto and Matt Smith.

She is also set to play the bride in Warner Bros.’ new Father of the Bride film starring Andy Garcia.

Diego Luna to Receive 2021 Platino Award of Honor

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Luna is being celebrated for his platinum career.

This year’s seventh edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) will honor the 41-year-old Mexican actor, director, producer and festival organizer with the Platino Award of Honor.

An itinerant award show by design, this year’s Platinos will be held on October 3 in Madrid.

Luna will be the youngest recipient of the career achievement honor, joining previous winners Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez, often simply referred to as Raphael, one of Spain’s most iconic entertainers of the 20th century; Adriana Barraza, the Oscar nominated Spanish-English-language crossover star of Alejandro Iñárritu’s Babel and Amores Perros; Oscar and three time Primetime Emmy nominee Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver); Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory); and Primetime Emmy (The Burning Season) and BAFTA (“Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) nominee Sonia Braga.

A child actor who excelled from an early age, Luna’s first film appearance was in Javier Bourges’ 1991 Mexican Academy Award-nominated short The Last New Year.” He appeared in several telenovelas throughout the ‘90s, joined on screen for the first time by his longtime collaborator and close friend Gael García Bernal in El abuelo y yo in 1992. Alternating between film and television over the next decade, his international breakout came with García Bernal and Spain’s Marbel Verdú in Alfonso Cuarón’s seminal coming-of-age road trip film “Y Tu Mamá También.”

Shortly after, Luna began his Hollywood career appearing alongside Bon Jovi in John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos and in Salma Hayek’s Oscar-winning biopic Frida.

In the decades since, Luna has continued to work on both Latin American and U.S. productions while also taking turns as a producer, writer and director. He also, again with García Bernal, launched the nomadic documentary film festival Ambulante, as well as their own production label, first Canana in 2005 and now La Corriente del Golfo.

Most recently, he created and hosts the Amazon Original conversation series Pan y Circo and is starring in the Disney+’s Andor, a spinoff series following his Rogue One: A Star Wars Story character Cassian Andor.

He was also recently confirmed as a voice actor for Netflix’s upcoming animated series Maya and the Three, where he will team with frequent collaborator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life).

Last year’s ceremony was, like so many, forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic. But this time around, the Platinos are planning an in-person event to celebrate the best offerings from the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American screen industries.

At 11 nominations each, the two standout titles are Fernando Trueba’s Colombian drama Memories of My Father and Jayro Bustamante’s Guatemalan thriller La Llorona.

The Platino Awards are promoted by EGEDA (Spain’s Entity for the Rights Management of Audiovisual Producers) and FIPCA (the Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers) and have the support of the Ibero-American film academies and institutes as well as numerous sponsors in Europe and Latin America.

Netflix & DreamWorks Animation Release Full Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s “Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans”

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro on the hunt…

Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have released the first full trailer for Trollhunters: Rise Of The Titans, which was co-written and executive-produced by the 56-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker.

The animated film, which will be released on the streaming service on July 21, is set in the world created by del Toro in his epic Emmy-winning Tales Of Arcadia trilogy.

In the animated fantasy adventure, Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens and wizards. Now, the heroes from the Trollhunters series team up in their most epic adventure yet, where they must fight the Arcane Order for control over the magic that binds them all.

“From the beginning, I tried to get together a group that would bring things to the table that were different,” says del Toro of the team behind the project.

He says the project was conceived as “three series that you can put together like a diorama and then you see how on an early episode of Trollhunters you’re going to see the characters of wizards and 3Below interacting, and then go back on a Möbius strip and see other episodes from the others’ point of view. Then finish with a movie.” He noted, “It sounded really crazy, but we were very careful in how we developed the assets, but also in the storytelling.”

del Toro previously pitched the series as live-action and set in the 1980s. Per del Toro, then-DWA chief Jeffrey Katzenberg replied, “We don’t do TV.” So, del Toro explained, “we started to try to cram it all into a feature. It was impossible.” Then, “One fateful morning Jeffrey invited me for breakfast, and when he pays for breakfast there’s something about to go, and he said, ‘Don’t kill me, but what do you think about doing it as a TV series?’ And I said, ‘That’s the best news we’ve ever had.’”

The extensive voice cast includes Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin and Cheryl Hines.

Along with del Toro, writers are Marc Guggenheim, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman.

Guillermo del Toro’s Animated “Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans” Film to Premiere on Netflix in July

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro will be troll-ing Netflix this summer…

The 56-year-old Mexican filmmaker and two-time The Shape of Water Oscar has shared the release date and first teaser for his Netflix–DreamWorks Animation movie Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans.

Executive produced by del Toro, the filmwill hit the service on July 21.

The film is set in the world created by del Toro in his epic Tales of Arcadia trilogy. Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens and wizards. Now the heroes from the Trollhunters series team up in their most epic adventure yet where they must fight the Arcane Order for control over the magic that binds them all.

The film features the voices of Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin and Cheryl Hines.

https://twitter.com/NetflixFilm/status/1387074059884634118

Johane Matte, Franisco Ruiz Velasco, and Andrew L. Schmidt directed from a screenplay written by Marc Guggenheim, Dan Hageman, and Kevin Hageman. EPs with del Toro are Guggenheim, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman and Chad Hammes.

Adria Arjona to Star in Warner Bros. & Plan B’s Reboot of “Father of the Bride”

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Adria Arjona is heading down the aisle…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican actress will star as Andy Garcia’s daughter and the bride-to-be in Warner Bros. and Plan B’s reboot of Father of the Bride.

Gaz Alazraki has been set to helm the studio’s new reboot, which will revolve around a Cuban-American family, with Matt Lopez penning the script.

The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film.

While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy film and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s.

Dede Garner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce for Plan B Entertainment. Garcia will executive-produce.

Arjona’s breakout role came on Legendary’s Pacific Rim: Uprising, where she co-starred opposite John Boyega and Scott Eastwood. She would follow that up with key roles in Life of the Party, Triple Frontier and most recently in the Michael Bay action pic 6 Underground.

She can be seen next in Sony’s extended Marvel Universe film Morbius, which also stars Jared Leto and Matt Smith.

Arjona was recently tapped for the female lead in the anticipated Rogue One spinoff series Andor, which also stars Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgard.

Jacob Vargas to Star in Steven Soderbergh’s Next Film “KIMI”

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Jacob Vargas has lined up his next big role…

The 49-year-old Mexican actor has joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s next film, the New Line Max Original feature KIMI, with Zoë Kravitz on board to star.

Byron Bowers and Jaime Camil are also on board.

The film will premiere exclusively on HBO Max. David Koepp penned the script and will produce with Michael Polaire.

Plot details are being kept under wraps.

The film would mark the second collaboration between Warner Bros Pictures Group, HBO Max and Soderbergh since the recent restructuring of the studio, and the third between Soderbergh and HBO Max. It follows No Sudden Move, the upcoming starry Max Original ensemble crime thriller from Warner Bros. Pictures that features Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Brendan Fraser, Noah Jupe, Bill Duke, Frankie Shaw and Julia Fox.

Soderbergh’s most recent pic, Let Them All Talk, with Meryl Streep, premiered on HBO Max in December.

Vargas and Soderbergh’s partnership goes all the way back to Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning drug trafficking film Traffic, where Vargas played del Toro’s partner Manolo. Vargas would later appear in Soderbergh’s HBO series Mosaic.

He currently stars in the Netflix series Mr. Iglesias and was previously on the series Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy. Recent film credits include Mark Carlson’s Princess of the Row opposite Martin Sheen and Ana Ortiz, The 33 as Edison “Elvis” Peña, one of the 33 Chilean miners that was trapped for 69 days, and Diego Luna’s biopic Cesar Chavez as Richard Chavez opposite Michael Peña.

Inde Navarrette Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Inde Navarrette has new representation…

The Latina actress, best known for her role as Estela de la Cruz in the fourth and final season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation in all areas.

She has also portrayed Veronica in the Snapchat original series Denton’s Death Date, and as Sarah Cushing in The CW’s series Superman & Lois.

In film, she was most recently seen opposite Sienna Miller and Diego Luna in Wander Darkly, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. She has also appeared in the short films Cranberry Nights and Cross Words Together.

In 2019, she participated in the Sundance Directors Lab, which included Robert Redford, Christine Lahti, and Ed Harris as mentors.

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