Plaza to Star in “The Driftless Area”

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Aubrey Plaza is driftless in Hollywood…

The 29-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/comedian and Parks and Recreation star has joined the cast of The Driftless Area, starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes and Frank Langella.

The film centers on the young love between a bartender and a mysterious woman. Their relationship is threatened after the bartender, Pierre, gets mixed up with a dangerous crook and his bag of stolen cash.

The Driftless Area, an adaptation of Tom Drury‘s novel of the same name, is currently shooting in Vancouver.

Zachary Sluser, who co-wrote the screenplay with Drury, is directing.

Plaza, who starred in 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed, which earned her the Breakthrough Performer of the Year award at CinemaCon,and 2013’s The To-Do List, can next be seen in the upcoming A Many Splintered Thing opposite Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan and Lionsgate’s Mortdecai, co-starring Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Both films are in postproduction.

Saldaña to Star in Miles Davis Biopic from Don Cheadle

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no doubt Zoë Saldaña is pretty jazzed about her next project…

The 35-year-old half-Dominican/half-Puerto Rican American actress has joined the cast of Kill the Trumpet Player, Don Cheadle‘s project about legendary jazz pioneer Miles Davis.

Cheadle will play the late musician and work behind the lens in his directorial debut. The long-delayed biopic will follow “the virtuoso, fighter and genius as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer to steal his music back.”

Saldaña will portray Frances Davis, the former wife of the trumpet player in the film, which has received financing from BiFrost Pictures.

Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor will play a Rolling Stone reporter in the film.

Cheadle also co-wrote the script with Steven Baigelman to explore the story of a few dangerous days in Davis’ life. The late star’s collaborator Herbie Hancock is confirmed to be involved in the project as well.

Cheadle said at the American Film Market that the movie wouldn’t be a traditional biopic.

“Let’s kill that term, OK? I hope with this film we can kill the biopic. This film won’t try to give a broad overview of Davis’ life and give short shrift to this man’s story,” he said. “For us as creative people, the time of his life that was most interesting was the five years when he wasn’t playing, when he was silent. What was going on in his mind? And how did he come out of it and return to music?”

Production is expected to begin next summer.

No release date has been set in stone.

It’s the latest movie-themed project for Saldaña…

Last year, the Star Trek Into Darkness was cast to portray songstress Nina Simone in a biopic about the legendary singer.

“Blancanieves” Earns 18 Goya Award Nominations

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Berger‘s silent black-and-white reinterpretation of the Snow White fable, Blancanieves, is this awards season’s Goya darling.

The 49-year-old Spanish director’s film, hailed as an homage to 1920s European silent films, leads the pack with 18 nominations for the Spanish Film Academy‘s Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars.

Blancanieves, which recently debuted in the U.S. at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, received nominations in the best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best editing, best original music and best original song categories.

In addition, six of the films stars earned nods, including Maribel Verdú in the Best Actress category, Daniel Giménez Cacho in the Best Actor field and Macarena García in the Best Actress Revelation category.

“We are very, very happy. We ran for 18 possible nominations and we got 18,” said Blancanieves producer Ibon Cormenzana. “We’ve sold to many territories and in two weeks we’ll release in theaters in France. I think we’ve benefited from the success of the The Artist.”

Meanwhile, Alberto Rodriguez’s Unit 7 earned 16 nominations, Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible received 14 nods and Fernando Trueba’s The Artist and The Model picked up 13 nominations.

The Impossible’s Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor will compete for lead actress and supporting actor thanks to a change in the Spanish Academy’s rules that allows non-Spanish speaking actors who participate in Spanish productions to compete for acting honors. That translates to Watts vying for the lead acting nod against Verdu’s evil step-mother from Blancanieves, Penelope Cruz from Volver a nacer and Aida Folch‘s muse-like performance in The Artist and the Model.

Blancanieves’ Cacho, Model’s Jean Rochefort, Unit’s Antonio de la Torre and veteran actor Jose Sacristan from The Dead Man and Being Happy will compete for the lead actor statue.

In Spain, Bayona’s film has broken box office records, where it is just about to hit the 42 million euro mark at the box office.

“Our objective is to sell more than 6 million tickets,” said Impossible producer Ghislain Barrois.

The Spanish academy will dole out the awards on February 17 at a gala ceremony in Madrid.

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Bayona’s “The Impossible”

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

The anticipation is building for Juan Antonio Bayona’s heart-wrenching film The Impossible…

The 37-year-old Spanish director’s film, a serious Oscar contender, tells the story of a family separated during the terrifying Tsunami in Thailand in 2004 and their efforts to survive and find each other, despite horrific injury and unspeakable devastation at the resort area where they were vacationing.

Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland, the film has already broken box office records in Spain. Summit will be releasing The Impossible on December 21 in the United States.

Here’s a look at the making of The Impossible, in a featurette that includes an interview with the real-life wife and mother who fights against all odds to be reunited with her children and husband again.

Bayona’s “The Impossible” Breaks Box Office Records in Spain

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Antonio Bayona has an impossible hit on his hands…

The 37-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s powerful recreation of the 2004 tsunami, The Impossible, has broken the all-time Spanish box office records for the biggest four-day opening, with 10.3 million euros ($13.3 million) and 1.4 million tickets sold.

Warner Bros. released Bayona’s highly anticipated film, a follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Orphanage, over a three-day weekend after receiving rave reviews at festivals in Toronto, San Sebastian and Sitges.

The film, which stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts as a British couple vacationing with their three children in Thailand when the natural disaster strikes, features some intense scenes that forced paramedics to wheel people out on stretchers at festival screenings.

“The Impossible is the proof that in Spain we can make films that compete with Hollywood,” said Telecinco Cinema CEO Ghislain Barrois. “At Telecinco Cinema, we are proud to have worked again with Juan Antonio Bayona, whose opera prima we co-produced. And to have partners like Apaches Entertainment with us in the adventure.”

Grossing $11.6 million in the first three days, Impossible looks poised to outperform previous first three-day record-holders, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($11.45 million) and The Da Vinci Code, ($11.38 million).

Lionsgate will release The Impossible in the United States on December 21.

Bayona’s “The Impossible” Set to Open in the U.S. in December

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

The rose to acclaim after directing the Goya Award-winning The Orphanage… And, now J.A. Bayona is returning with another highly anticipated film.

Lionsgate has scheduled the 37-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s latest project, The Impossible, to open in New York and Los Angeles on December 21st.

Bayona’s film, with stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, centers on a family that survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries.

Bayana Named CineEurope’s International Director of the Year

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

He rose to fame after directing the critically acclaimed Spanish-language horror film The Orphanage, which earned him a Goya Award for Best New Director… And, now Juan Antonio Bayana has another award to put on his mantle…

The 37-year-old Spanish filmmaker picked up the international director of the year award at CineEurope, Europe’s top cinema convention during the show’s annual awards luncheon in Bayana’s hometown of Barcelona.

Following The Orphanage—his big debut film, a visceral ghost story set in a former children’s refuse—Bayana has returned with The Impossible, which stars Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Geraldine Chaplin. It’s a tale of a family battling to survive the aftermath of a devastating South East Asian tsunami.

Summit Entertainment is planning to release the movie in the United States later this year while Spaniards will see it on the big screen in October.

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