Anya Taylor-Joy in Talks to Star in the Dark Comedy “The Menu”

Anya Taylor-Joy is perusing the menu…

Following her award-winning role on Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambitthe 25-year-old Argentine-British actress is in talks to star in Searchlight’s dark comedy The Menu.

Anya Taylor-Joy

Taylor-Joy would star opposite Ralph Fiennes. Mark Mylod, who has played a major part in the success of HBO’s Succession, will direct.

The film is a darkly comedic psychological thriller set in the world of eccentric culinary culture, centering on a young couple who visit an exclusive restaurant on a remote island where an acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu. Taylor-Joy will play one half of the couple. Fiennes is playing the chef.

Will Tracy and Seth Reiss penned the script.

After her breakout role in Robert Eggers’ The WitchTaylor-Joy has been rising through the ranks and was handpicked to star in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split and its sequel Glass

She became one of the big winners of 2021 when her Netflix limited series Queen’s Gambit, about a chess prodigy in the 1960s, became one of the streamers biggest hits of 2020. She was also recently seen in the Focus Features film Emma

She has a busy 2021 ahead of her with starring roles in the Viking drama The Northman, the untitled David O. Russell film and Edgar Wright’s Last Night In SohoShe was also tapped to star in the Mad Max spinoff Furiosa in the title role.

Gloria Calderón Kellett Developing “With Love” as First Series Under Overall Production Deal with Amazon Studios

Gloria Calderón Kellett is bringing the Love to Amazon…

The 46-year-old Cuban American television writer/creator’s GloNation Studios and Amazon Studios have set With Love as the first series under Calderón Kellett’s overall deal with the streamer.

Gloria Calderón Kellett

The one-hour romantic dramedy, created and written by the One Day At a Time co-creator, had been fast tracked since the pitch stage with the goal to launch it during the 2021 holiday season.

Additionally, Calderón Kellett has set up three other series projects for development at Amazon Studios through GloNation as part of her deal. The wide-ranging slate includes Shakespeare-themed high-school drama Verona, co-created by Calderón Kellett; Glowing Up, a half-hour adult animation musical series based on the graphic novel Mismatched, a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma; and Dating the Lopez Ladies, a half-hour animated comedy created by Calderón Kellett.

Glowing Up and Dating the Lopez Ladies follow Calderón Kellett’s foray into animation with the well-received special episode of One Day At a Time, which was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Meanwhile, With Love and Verona mark a return to the hour-long side for Calderón Kellett, who previously worked on Devious Maids and iZombie.

With Love follows the Diaz siblings, Lily and Jorge, who are on a mission to find love and purpose. The Diaz siblings cross paths with seemingly unrelated residents during some of the most heightened days of the year –the holidays.

“I started writing as a way to create characters and stories that represented myself and the community I love,” Calderón Kellett said. “After such a heavy year, there was nothing I wanted more than to see a happy, warm, loving family that looked like mine, celebrating trauma-free and falling in love. So, to be bringing that family to life as my first project with Amazon Studios feels especially personal and is incredibly exciting. I cannot wait to share With Love this holiday season!”

The holiday series is currently in prep, with production set to begin in June. Its pilot episode will be directed and executive produced by Meera Menon.

With Love is a special project and Gloria at her best, creating a world with a vibrant family at its center, hysterical circumstances, and so much heart and soul. We’re so proud of what’s to come of this series and can’t wait for the world to fall in love with it,” said Marc Resteghini, US and Global Head of Development for Amazon Studios.

Here are details about the three other projects from Calderón Kellett’s GloNation Studios in the works at Amazon:

VERONA
As Shakespeare so famously wrote, all the world’s a stage… and never is that truer than as a teenager, when you are performing for yourself, your peers, your parents, and social media. Verona is an hour-long drama series which takes the classic Shakespearean stories you know and love out of the renaissance and into present-day high school. The highs are still high, the lows are still low, but one thing is certain… high school drama is about to get a lot more poetic. We follow the Del Castillo sisters Nico, Delilah, and Inez as they play out familiar stories interweaved together in fair Verona where we lay our scene.
Created By: Roja Gashtili & Julia Lerman, Kelly Younger and Gloria Calderón Kellett.
Writers / Executive Producers: Roja Gashtili, Julia Lerman

GLOWING UP
Based on the graphic novel Mismatched (a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma), Glowing Up is a half-hour adult animation musical series centered on Evan Horowitz, an out and proud Latino/Jew amateur matchmaker and wannabe makeup influencer. Evan is an old-school romantic who dedicates himself to getting true love to trend at his high school in Queens — through singing, dancing, and contoured cheekbones. A big gay musical comedy that focuses on love and celebrates LGBTQIA+ youth.
Writers / Executive Producers: Debby Wolfe & Marcos Luevanos
EPs: Gloria Calderón Kellett and Will Graham (for Field Trip)

DATING THE LOPEZ LADIES
A half-hour animated comedy series following plus-sized powerhouse Ilana Lopez. She’s a 25-year-old artist who runs a wildly successful comic strip about dating called Sharp Curves following the misadventures of her alter-ego Gabby. Gabby becomes all too real and is the devil on Ilana’s shoulder in life as well as on the page. When Ilana’s mother, the 49-year-old glamorous divorcee, Sofia visits, she points out that fictional Gabby has more fun than real-life Ilana. It makes Ilana and her friends energized to start a date club and take their romantic conquests seriously. Inspired by the young people, Sofia decides to join her daughter and friends in date club! Adventures and hilarity ensue.
Creator/Writer/EP: Gloria Calderón Kellett

Calderón Kellett, a leading voice in Latinx storytelling on television, was executive producer/co-showrunner, director and actress on Netflix/Pop’s One Day At A Time, which was universally praised for its authentic and nuanced portrayal of the the Latinx experience.

She began her TV writing career as a staff writer on the CBS comedy series How I Met Your Mother, rising to co-producer and earning an ALMA Award for one of her scripts in 2008. She then worked as a writer-producer on such series as CBS/Sony Television’s Rules of Engagement, Lifetime’s Devious Maids and the CW’s iZombie before taking on One Day at a Time. 

“As If!” Pop-Up to Open in LA to Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Stacey Dash’s “Clueless”

Stacey Dash’s most iconic movie is coming to life… 

With Amy Heckerling’s iconic ’90s romantic comedy Cluelessstarring the 53-year-old part-Mexican actress, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the minds behind immersive experiences like Saved by the MaxGood BurgerThe Peach Pitand the Breaking Badexperience are opening “As If!” a new pop up that will leave fans of the popular film singing “Rollin’ with the homies” as they are immersed in the world of the film’s fashion-savvy heroine and way existential Cher Horowitz (played by Alicia Silverstone), her BFF Dionne Davenport(Dash) and the gang.

Clueless Alicia Silverstone & Stacey Dash

With the help of Paramount Pictures, the new pop up experience will celebrate the movie that made Baldwins and Bettys out of all of us. 

The limited-run pop up is set to open on March 31 and continue through May 8 at 7100 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. 

While sporadically soaking in all of the insta-worthy set recreations, guests can enjoy libations, dine on “Cher-able” bar snacks created by Chef Royce Burkeand shop for merch to avoid being a fashion victim. No word yet on whether there will be time to play “suck and blow” but just make sure you aren’t caught dead in the same outfit as Ambular.

“We are like ‘totally butt crazy in love’ with the chance to bring the world of Cluelessto life,” said Derek Berry, one of the concept’s partners. “It’s truly one of those films that has stood the test of time and cult fandom. With the anniversary quickly approaching there was no better team than ours to honor this beloved teen classic and bring Cher’s world to life. To miss out would have just been way harsh.”

Released in 1995, Clueless was a clever modern take on Jane Austen’s Emmaand starred Silverstone, Dash, Paul RuddDonald FaisonElisa DonovanBreckin Meyerand Jeremy Sisto. A re-release of the movie is set for May in select theaters across the country.

Tickets to “As if!” are set to go on sale March 6 at www.asifpopup.com.

Danielle Marie Gonzalez to Star in The New Group’s Off Broadway Production “Clueless, The Musical”

Danielle Marie Gonzalez is embracing theCluelesslife…

The half-Spanish actress has joined the cast of The New Group’s upcoming Off Broadway production Clueless, The Musical, based on the 1995 coming-of-age romantic comedy film, which was loosely based on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma, with an updated setting to modern-day Beverly Hills.

Danielle Marie Gonzalez

The production will be directed by Kristin Hanggi with a book by Amy Heckerling, who wrote and directed the film.

In addition to Gonzalez, who will portray Lucy, the cast includes Dove Cameron in the lead role of Cher, Dave Thomas Brown (as Josh), Ephie Aardema (Tai) and Zurin Villanueva (Dionne) – roles played in the 1995 film by Alicia SilverstonePaul Rudd, Brittany Murphy and Stacy Dash.

Also in the cast: Lori Alan (Miss Geist/Ms. Stoeger), Sara Andreas (Heather), Gilbert L. Bailey II (Murray), Will Connolly (Travis), Tessa Grady (Amber), L’ogan J’ones (Max), Chris Hoch (Mel, others), Darius Jordan Lee (Sean) and Justin Mortelliti (Christian). Ensemble/swing will include Tiffany EngenKatie GoffmanTalya GrovesJeff Kuhr and Brett Thiele.

Clueless, The Musical begins previews on November 20, opens December 11, and runs through January 12 in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

Gonzalez’s previous theater credits include the national tours of Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance: The Musical and Rock of Ages.