Lin-Manuel Miranda to Appear on Disney+’s Series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is playing messenger…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor, filmmaker, composer and lyricist has landed a key guest-starring role on Disney+’s upcoming series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson (Walter Scobell), who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.

Miranda, who is a fan of the Percy Jackson books along with his son, will play Hermes, the messenger god who looks out for travelers and thieves, and is a bit of a trickster himself. He is charismatic & boisterous, the life of the party. Unfortunately, his charm does not do much to heal his strained relationship with his son, Luke (Charlie Bushnell). He’s hesitant to help Percy and his friends on their quest as sometimes getting involved is more trouble than it’s worth.

In addition to series regulars Scobell, Simhadri, Jeffries and Bushnell, Miranda joins previously announced guest stars Megan Mullally, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Timm Sharp, Dior Goodjohn, Olivea Morton, Adam Copeland, Suzanne Cryer and Jessica Parker Kennedy.

The series is currently in production in Vancouver and is expected to premiere exclusively on Disney+ in 2024.

Riordan and Jon Steinberg wrote the pilot, and James Bobin directs.

Miranda is a Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning songwriter, actor, director and producer. Creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony-winning Hamilton and In the Heights, his additional Broadway credits include Freestyle Love Supreme, Bring It On: The Musical and the 2009 revival of West Side Story. His TV and film credits include tick, tick… BOOM!, Vivo, the feature adaptation of In the Heights, Emmy-winning Hamilton, His Dark Materials, Fosse/Verdon, We The People and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Miranda earned guest actor Emmy nominations for Curb Your Enthusiasm and as host of Saturday Night Live, and Oscar nominations for Best Original Song for Moana, Mary Poppins Returns and most recently Encanto.

Eugenio Derbez to Star in Netflix’s “Lotería,” Inspired by the Mexican Bingo-Like Game

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez has hit the lotería…

The 59-year-old Mexican actor/comedian will star and produce Netflix‘s Lotería, a family film inspired by the titular card game popular in Latin America and the United States.

Derbez will portray a recently widowed father who discovers an old family deck of Lotería Don Clemente cards that come to life while he’s trying to bond with his kids, and the cards take the family on a global adventure. While uncovering the secrets of the deck, they have to steer clear of a mysterious business magnate with devious plans.

Similar to bingo, Lotería Don Clemente is a popular game of chance that uses a 54-card deck with colorful images instead of numbered balls. Players use a board featuring a grid of 16 images (four images in rows of four) to be marked with a chip—oftentimes pinto beans are used—as the caller announces the name of a card. Whoever claims all the images called making the predetermined pattern first, wins the game.

Lotería will be directed by Emmy nominee James Bobin and written by Roberto Orci and J.R. Orci, based on a story by Roberto Orci and Adele Heather Taylor.

Derbez and producing partner Ben Odell will produce under their 3Pas banner.

First Trailer Released for Isabela Moner’s “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Welcome to the jungle, Isabela Moner…

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Dora and the Lost City of Gold, starring the 17-year-old Peruvian-American actress.

The live-action film is based on the popular Nickelodeonanimated series, Dora the Explorer.

In addition to Moner as the title character, the film also Eva Longoria, Michael Peña and Eugenio Derbez.

After spending most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, Dora prepares to leap into her most challenging adventure yet – high school. Always the explorer, she quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego (half-Dominican American actor Jeffrey Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Derbez), and a rag-tag group of teens on a live-action adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind a lost city of gold.

The film is directed by James Bobin. The screenplay is written by Nicholas Stollerand Matthew Robinson, from a story by Tom Wheeler.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold arrives in theaters on August 2.

Moner’s previous credits include the films Instant Family, Sicario: Day of the Soldadoand Transformers: The Last Knight.

Benicio del Toro to Voice Swiper in Paramount Pictures’ “Dora the Explorer” Film

Posted on December 16, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio del Toro is taking a big swipe…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican actor and Oscar winner will voice the villainous fox Swiper in Paramount Pictures’ Dora the Explorer film.

The film has finished shooting in Australia, but del Toro will provide the voice-over to the fox who always tries to undermine the young explorer.

On the animated series, Dora is known to wave Swiper away from his thieving activities by getting the television audience at home to scream “Swiper no swiping.”

The movie follows a high school-bound Dora leading her friends and her sidekick Boots the monkey on a Goonies-type adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind a lostIncacivilization.

Isabela Moner from Instant Family stars alongside Michael Pena and Eva Longoria as her parents, as well as Eugenio Derbez, Adriana Barraza, Q’orianka Kilcher and Temuera Morrison.

del Toro’s previous credits include Traffic, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Sicario.

James Bobin directs the feature live-action take of the classic Nickelodeon cartoon series.

The film hits theaters on August 2, 2019.

Eva Longoria to Star in the Live-Action Film Adaptation of Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer”

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria is exploring a new role…

The 43-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star has been cast in Paramount Players’ live-action feature of Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer.

Longoria is set to portray Elena, Dora’s mother.

The James Bobin-directed movie hits theaters on August 2, 2019 and is already in production over in Australia with castmembers Isabela Moner (as Dora), Eugenio Derbez, Micke Moreno, Nicholas Coombe, Madeleine Madden, Adriana Barraza, and Temuera Morrison.

In the movie, the young explorer takes on high school, and with her new pack of friends as well as her sidekick the monkey Boots and her cousin Diego, leads them on a Goonies-esque quest to save her parents and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost Inca civilization.

Longoria recently starred in LD Entertainment’s Dog Days and Pantelion/MGM’s Overboard.

Longoria, via her production company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, is executive producing the ABC drama series Grand Hotel scheduled for a midseason release as well as the recently announced series Ambassador which received a big put pilot commitment from ABC. She was also the EP on Lifetime’s Devious Maids and NBC comedy Telenovela in which she also starred.

Bonham Carter Returning for “Alice in Wonderland” Sequel

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Helena Bonham Carter is returning to Wonderland…

The 47-year-old part-Spanish actress has signed on to reprise her role as the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, a sequel to Tim Burton‘s 2010 box office hit Alice in Wonderland.

Bonham Carter earned a London Critics Circle Film Awards nomination forBritish Supporting Actress and an MTV Movie Awards nod for Best Villain for portrayingthe character in the film.

In addition to Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp is slated to return as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska will reprise her role as Alice.

Meanwhile, Sacha Baron Cohen will portray the main villain, named Time, in the sequel.

The sequel, which will be directed by James Bobin, will open in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.

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