Aimee Carrero to Star in the Buddy Action-Comedy “Code 3”

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Aimee Carrero has broken the code…

The 34-year-old Dominican actress will star in the buddy action-comedy Code 3 opposite Rainn Wilson and Lil Rel Howery.

Production is set to begin in February.

She’ll portray Jessica, a newbie paramedic who is eager to learn is well-trained, and is superb under pressure. In the 24-hour shift where she’s training to replace Randy (Wilson), she’s in for an incredible day of surprises and realizations.

The film, by director Christopher Leone, follows a day in the life of two overworked, underpaid, and nearly burnt-out paramedics. One EMT is so burnt-out by the job that he’s forcing himself to resign, though he first must embark on one last 24-hour shift to train his replacement. Everything that could happen on the job, from the mundane to the extreme, then happens on this final, exhilarating day.

The script for Code 3 hails from Leone and former paramedic Patrick Pianezza. Angela Cardon will oversee the project for Wayfarer Studios and will serve as its sole financier.

Producers are Justin Baldoni and Andrew Calof for Wayfarer, Lawrence Mattis of Circle of Confusion, Matt Smith of Electro Corduroy Entertainment, and Paul “Pizza” Pianezza of Realdream.

Carrero’s breakout role was in Season 2 of FX’s The Americans playing the character of Lucia.

She can currently be seen in the Fox Searchlight film The Menu starring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy, streaming now via HBO Max.

Additionally, she co-starred in the Apple TV+ holiday film Spirited opposite Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

Up next, she’ll appear as a series regular in Amazon’s The Consultant opposite Christoph Waltz in the role of Patti.

Kate del Castillo Signs with Buchwald

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Kate del Castillo has new representation…

The 49-year-old Mexican actress and telenovela star has signed with Buchwald.

del Castillo stars in Telemundo’s hit drama La Reina del Sur.

One of the highest rated Spanish-language series in the world, La Reina del Sur adapts the bestseller by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte. In the crime drama, which recently wrapped filming for Season 3, del Castillo plays Teresa Mendonza, a woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain.

Castillo recently completed a two-series deal with Telemundo. Her production company, Cholawood, has a first-look development deal with Boomdog, the Mexico City-based division of Endemol Shine North America.

The actress starred opposite Will Smith as the villain in Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, also recently featuring on NBC’s sitcom Mr. Mayor, from creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and the Netflix animated series Maya and the Three, created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez.

She rose to acclaim in America with her performance in Fox Searchlight’s Under the Same Moon, which is one of the highest-grossing Spanish-language theatrical releases in U.S. history, and has also featured in such films as Bordertown, No Good Deed and All About Nina.

del Castillo has also appeared in series including PBS’ Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated drama American Family, The CW’s Jane the Virgin and Showtime’s Weeds, among others. Her one-woman Off-Broadway show, The Way She Spoke, made her the first Latina actress to earn Drama Desk, Drama League and Lucille Lortel Award nominations.

A philanthropist and outspoken global activist, del Castillo was appointed Ambassador for the Mexican Commission on Human Rights to combat human trafficking in 2009.

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

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is perusing the menu…

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

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 Witch, Taylor-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 Soho. She was also tapped to star in the Mad Max spinoff Furiosa in the title role.

Eva Longoria to Star Opposite Ice Cube in Untitled Sci-Fi Film for Universal

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria is breaking the Ice…

The 45-year-old Mexican American actress, producer and director will star opposite Ice Cube in an untitled grounded sci-fi movie, with Patrick Aiello and Timur Bekmambetov producing. Rich Lee will direct from a script by Kenneth Golde.

Plot details are vague other then it being described as a grounded sci-fi film in the vein of District 9 already that touches on themes of privacy versus surveillance. Universal has greenlighted the film and has fast tracked it by having it go into production this month.

Universal landed the package last month and what really sealed the deal was the technology that Bekmambetov has been fine-tuning ever since signing his five-picture deal with the studio. The idea behind this format that was part of the presentation is a production that had the look of commercial event film but at the budget of a contained thriller. This new technology will allow for a fully remote production with all actors and crew working from their individual separate locations. So basically if Cube or Longoria wanted his part of the shoot to be done from his home, it could be done without a problem and with crew working from somewhere else.

The shoot would be a first of its kind at this scope and is not only done at a lower budget but also provides the safe working environment every studio is trying to achieve during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longoria, who recently signed with WME, was most recently seen Dora and the Lost City of the Gold and Slyvie’s Love. She also set to star in Flamin’ Hot for Searchlight, the recently announced Spa Day for Sony and 24/7 for Universal, which she will also direct.

Natalie Morales to Star in Warner Bros. “The Little Things”

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Natalie Morales is celebrating the little things…

The 34-year-old Cuban American actress has joined the cast of Warner Bros.‘ The Little Things opposite Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Rami Malek.

The film follows Deke (Washington), a burned-out Kern County, CA. deputy sheriff who teams with Baxter (Malek), a crack LASD detective, to nab a serial killer. Deke’s nose for the “little things” proves eerily accurate, but his willingness to circumvent the rules embroils Baxter in a soul-shattering dilemma. Meanwhile, Deke must wrestle with a dark secret from his past. Jared Letois in talks to join in the role as the serial killer in the project from writer-director John Lee Hancock.

Morales will play a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department detective working for Baxter.

She most recently starred on NBC’s Abby’s sitcom. The Parks and Recreation alum also starred in Fox’s Stuber alongside Kumail Nanjiani. She also appeared in Fox Searchlight’s Golden Globe-nominated Battle of the Sexes opposite Emma Stoneand Steve Carell. Morales was a regular on Fox’s The Grinder. She also recently directed her second episode of Room 104 for HBO.

Guillermo del Toro to Write & Direct the Action Film “Zanbato”

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro has a new fighton his hands…

The 54-year-old Mexican filmmaker is attached to write and direct the action movie Zanbato for Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.

The logline is under wraps. Zanbatocenters on a young girl with lethal fighting skills. del Toro posted the news on his Twitter account that the project has been in development for the past six years without leaking, adding, “We are still developing steadily.”

del Toro also said Friday that he’s in pre-production on Pinocchiofor Netflix, on which he’ll make his animated feature film directing debut in a stop-motion musical version of the classic children’s tale about a puppet who wants to be a real live boy. Netflix and del Toro announced in October that he would write and produce the film, set in Italy during the 1930s, when fascism was on the rise.

del Toro is also producing Scott Cooper‘s Antlersat Fox Searchlight, and Scary Stories to Tell in the DarkatCBS Films.

He won Academy Awardslast year for producing and directing The Shape of Water.

Demián Rugna to Direct “Terrified,” the English-Language Remake of His Genre Film “Aterrados”

Posted on December 23, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Demián Rugnais remaking his own film…

The 39-year-old Argentine filmmaker will helm Terrified, Fox Searchlight’s English-language remake of Aterrados.

Rugna wrote and directed the original 2017 Argentinian genre film.

When strange events occur in a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, a doctor specializing in the paranormal, her colleague, and an ex police officer investigate further. The results are horrifying and the evil must be stopped before it spreads.

The film will be produced by Guillermo del Toro, extending his relationship with Fox Searchlight that was capped last year by Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water. Del Toro followed by making an overall Fox Searchlight deal last April.

Here is a trailer for Rugna’s original film:

Antonio Campos Signs with William Morris Endeavor (WME)

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Antonio Campos has new representation…

The 34-year-old half-Brazilian writer-director-producer, whose credits include the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard film Afterschool and the Sundance Film Festival films Simon Killer and Christine, has signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME).

Campos has been busy on the television side of late, directing and executive producing USA’s The Sinner starring Jessica Biel in addition to Netflix’s The Punisher, on which he directed an episode in Season 1 and is helming the first two episodes of Season 2.

As a producer, his credits include Martha Macy May Marlene, James White, The Eyes of My Mother and Piercing.

Upcoming, Campos has signed on to rewrite and direct the upcoming Fox Searchlight horror film Splitfoot, and is aboard to direct a prequel to The Omen for 20th Century Fox.

Campos, who had been at UTA, continues to be repped by manager Melissa Breaux at Management 360 and attorneys Peter Nelson and Joel Vanderkloot.

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” Earns 12 BAFTA Nominations

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro continues to feel the Awards Season love…

The Shape of Water, the latest film by the 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who earned his first-ever Golden Globe on Sunday, leads the nominations for the British Academy Film Awards with 12 including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

Tying for the most BAFTA nominations after Fox Searchlight’s The Shape of Water are Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri — also from Searchlight — and Focus/Working Title’s Darkest Hour with nine each.

All three pictures are up for Best Film as are Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (Warner Bros.) and Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, to round out the field.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears
DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling
LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch
PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)
I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)
KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director)
LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy

DOCUMENTARY
CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck
ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
JANE Brett Morgen

ANIMATED FILM
COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli

DIRECTOR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT Jordan Peele
I, TONYA Steven Rogers
LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh
MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin
PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King

LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya
SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water
SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird

LEADING ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread
DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out
GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour
JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour
LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird
LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World
HUGH GRANT Paddington 2
SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project
WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

ORIGINAL MUSIC
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer
DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli
DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins
DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel
DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis

EDITING
BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker
DUNKIRK Lee Smith
THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory

PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau

COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran
DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran
I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson
PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges
THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira

MAKE UP & HAIR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn
DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji
I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee
VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips
WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten

SOUND
BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth
DUNKIRK Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten
THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson
DUNKIRK Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Nominees tbc
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Nominees tbc

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
HAVE HEART Will Anderson
MAMOON Ben Steer
POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low

BRITISH SHORT FILM
AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster
COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen
A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell
WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell
WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANIEL KALUUYA
FLORENCE PUGH
JOSH O’CONNOR
TESSA THOMPSON
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

Eugenio Derbez’s “Instructions Not Included” Getting an English Makeover

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez’s biggest U.S. hit is getting a remake…

Lionsgate is planning an English-language remake of the 56-year-old Mexican actor’s Spanish-language hit Instructions Not Included.

In Instructions Not Included, the life of a playboy jazz musician is upended when a former flame leaves their baby girl for him to raise alone. He smuggles himself and the kid across the border to find her in Los Angeles. Ten floors up, he sees the girl wander into a pool and plunges 10 floors to save her. He promptly gets a stuntman job and raises the young girl. Six years later, the birth mother returns and wants to be part of her daughter’s life.

Set to direct is Amanda Lipitz, the Tony-winning producer whose first directing effort, Step, won a prize at the last Sundance Film Festival for Inspirational Filmmaking and sold for $4 million in a bidding battle to Fox Searchlight.

Lipitz is producing with Scott Rudin a narrative version of that film for Searchlight.

The Derbez-directed original was a massive hit in the U.S. Back home in Mexico, it was 2013’s highest-grossing film after Despicable Me 2 and Iron Man 3.

John Sacchi is producing the remake. Script is by Rob Lieber.

The film has been remade in France and Turkey.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

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