Jenna Ortega’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” to World Premiere at Venice Film Festival

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Jenna Ortega’s latest project is launching in Italy…

The 81st Venice Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Tim Burton‘s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, starring the 21-year-old Mexican American actress.

Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe star alongside Ortega in the highly anticipated sequel to Beetlejuice.

The Warner Bros film will be screened out of competition on Wednesday, August 28 at the Sala Grande, the festival said Tuesday.

This will mark a return to the sort of glitzy red carpet with which Venice has become synonymous, after last year’s Lido event had less star-wattage than usual as it took place amid the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Warner Bros starts the international rollout on Beetlejuice 2 on September 4 with domestic joining September 6.

Said Venice chief Alberto Barbera today, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marks the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters of Tim Burton’s cinema, but also the happy confirmation of the extraordinary visionary talent and the masterly realization of one of the most fascinating auteurs of his time. The Venice Biennale is honored and proud to host the world premiere of a work that features a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm.”

Added Burton, “I’m very excited by this. It means a lot to me to have the world premiere of this film at the Venice Film Festival.”

In the sequel to Beetlejuice, Burton’s classic 1988 supernatural comedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River following an unexpected tragedy. Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Keaton), Lydia’s (Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

This year’s Venice runs from August 28-September 7 with French star Isabelle Huppert acting as jury president.

Yul Vazquez to Star in MGM+’s Crime Thriller “Hotel Cocaine”

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Yul Vazquez is checking into his next project…

The 58-year-old Cuban-American actor and musician is set as a lead opposite Danny Pino and Michael Chiklis in Hotel Cocaine, MGM+’s upcoming crime thriller from creator Chris Brancato.

Hotel Cocaine is the story of Roman Compte (Pino), a Cuban expatriate who fought against Fidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs invasion and re-made his life in Miami. He is general manager of the Mutiny Hotel, the glamorous epicenter of the Miami cocaine scene of late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The Mutiny Hotel was Casablanca on cocaine, a glitzy nightclub, restaurant and hotel frequented by Florida businessmen and politicians, international narcos, CIA and FBI agents, models, sports stars and musicians.

Vazquez will play Nestor Cabal, Roman Compte’s (Pino) brother and one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to a coke-hungry Miami population. He’s dangerous, funny, wily, and seeking reunion with his long-lost brother.

Chiklis plays Agent Zulio who will stop at nothing to shut down the drug trade, even if it means using innocent civilians to accomplish his ends.

Brancato serves as executive producer and showrunner. Guillermo Navarro will direct the pilot episode and executive produce the series, with Michael Panes and Alfredo Barrios Jr. also serving as executive producers.

The eight-episode series from MGM+ Studios, in partnership with MGM Television, will begin production in May in the Dominican Republic, and is slated to premiere in early 2024.

Vazquez will next be seen in the HBO Max limited series White House Plumbers, opposite Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux. He was most recently seen on season 3 of the MGM+ series Godfather of Harlem opposite Forest Whitaker and in the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series, Severance, directed by Ben Stiller.

His other credits include Jason Bateman’s HBO series The Outsider, ABC’s Promised Land, Netflix’s Russian Doll, TNT miniseries I Am The Night and HBO’s Succession, among others.

His film work includes Books of Blood, Last Flag Flying, Gringo, Traffic and The Infiltrator.

Natalia Cordova-Buckley to Star on Season Two of AppleTV+’s “The Mosquito Coast”

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Cordova-Buckley will be swatting at mosquitoes…

The 39-year-old Mexican-American actress and Ian Hart have joined the cast of Apple TV+ series The Mosquito Coast as Season 2 regulars.

Cordova-Buckley and Hart join returning stars Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish, and Gabriel Bateman.

The Mosquito Coast follows the events prior to Paul Theroux’s famed 1981 novel about obsessed, idealist inventor Allie Fox, who is on the run from the U.S. government and uproots his family for Mexico.

The series is created for television and executive produced by Neil Cross.

The Mosquito Coast is a Fremantle Production for Apple TV+.

Cordova-Buckley most recently appeared in the third season of FX’s Mayans M.C. and the CBS series Coyote.

She is most notably known for her portrayal of one of the rare Latina superheroes, Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez, in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Alexis Valdés to Star in HBO’s Limited Series “The White House Plumbers”

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alexis Valdés has landed a plum(ber) role…

The 57-year-old Cuban actor and comedian will star in The White House Plumbers, HBO’s five-part limited series that revisits Watergate, one of the biggest political scandals in American history.

Valdés will star alongside Corbin Bernsen, Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux.

The series, now in production, hails from Veep executive producers Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, David Mandel and Frank Rich.

Created and written by Gregory and Huyck and directed by Mandel, White House Plumbers is based part on public records and the book Integrity by Egil “Bud” Krogh and Matthew Krogh. It tells the true story of how Richard Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt (Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Theroux), accidentally toppled the presidency they zealously were trying to protect.

Bernsen will play Richard Kleindienst, the Harvard-educated attorney general that is tainted by the ITT scandal and a contentious confirmation process. He refuses to use his power to shield the Plumbers from investigators.

Valdés plays Felipe De Diego, a Cuban-American real estate broker and yachtsman who participates in every Plumbers operation except the one which ends in their arrest.

Harrelson and Theroux executive produce White House Plumbers with Gregory, Huyck and Mandel. The limited series is a co-production between HBO and wiip.

Valdés’ previous credits include El juicio del PDO, Con Cariñito and 90 millas.

Adrian Martinez to Star in Disney’s Live-Action/CG Update of the Animated Classic “Lady and the Tramp”

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Adrian Martinez has landed a Lady of a project…

The Latino actor has landed the role of Elliot, a dog-catcher, in Disney’s live-action/CG hybrid update of the animated classic Lady and the Tramp.

Martinez, last seen opposite Amy Schumer in the comedy I Feel Pretty, joins Kiersey Clemons, Thomas Mann, Yvette Nicole Brown as part of the live cast along with Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux as the voices for Lady and Tramp.

Charlie Bean is directing the film based on the 1955 original, which followed an upper-middle-class American cocker spaniel named Lady who meets a streetsmart, downtown stray mongrel called Tramp, and the two embark on many romantic adventures including that iconic spaghetti smooch dinner scene.

The film will be released on Disney’s forthcoming streaming service that’s slated to launch in fall 2019.

Martinez’s credits include WB’s Focus and Office Christmas Party.

Peña Named to Voice Cast of Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Ninjago Movie”

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Peña has bricked his next role…

The 40-year-old Mexican American actor has been added to the main voice cast of Warner Bros.’ The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Led by Jackie Chan, the all-star cast includes Peña, Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani and Zach Woods.

Based on the line of Lego construction sets, The Lego Ninjago Movie follows Lloyd, member of a group of young warriors and Lego master builders who, with their kung fu master Wu, must defend Ninjago City against the evil warlord Garmadon. Complicating matters is the fact that Garmadon happens to be Lloyd’s father. With mech fighting mech and father fighting son, the undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas will learn to check their egos and pull together to save the city.

Chan stars as Wu, Franco is playing Lloyd, and Theroux voices Garmadon. Rounding out the cast of characters are Munn as Lloyd’s mother, with Armisen, Jacobson, Nanjiani, Peña and Woods voicing the rest of Lloyd’s secret ninja team.

Set to hit theaters September 22, 2017, The Lego Ninjago Movie is directed by Charlie Bean in his feature debut.

Tom & Bill Wheeler are rewriting the script originally penned by Hilary Winston, Bob Logan and Paul Fisher from a story by Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman and Winston, Logan and Fisher.

Warner Bros. will distribute worldwide.

Gomez to Star in the Indie Film “The Revised Fundamentals Of Caregiving”

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez has set her sights on her next film role…

The 22-year-old half-Mexican American actress and singer has landed the female lead opposite Paul Rudd in The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, directed by Emmy winner Rob Burnett.

Rudd will star in the indie drama as Ben, a caregiver looking after a frustrated teenager named Trevor who is in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Gomez will portray Dot, a sassy young woman who hitches a ride with the pair during a road trip, and whose forwardness and lack of embarrassment about Trevor’s condition causes him to develop a crush on her.

Burnett, the veteran exec producer of The Late Show with David Letterman, adapted the script from Jonathan Evison’s 2013 novel of the same name.

Soon-to-be co-stars Gomez and Rudd were snapped Sunday night after the Golden Globes with writer/actor Justin Theroux, when a photo of the trio posted to Gomez’s Instagram garnered 1.1 million likes.

Filming on The Revised Fundamentals Of Caregiving begins January 22 in Atlanta.

It’s the latest indie film for Gomez, whose big screen credits include Sony’s 2012 animation hit Hotel Transylvania. A role in Harmony Korine’s racy Spring Breakers added street cred to her resume, and she was most recently seen in William H. Macy’s directorial debut Rudderless, which premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Gomez next reprises her voice role in Sony’s animated sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 opposite Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg. Offscreen, the global star who has over 107 million social media followers recently signed with Interscope Records after a long run with Disney’s Hollywood Records.

Cruz to Star Opposite Ben Stiller in “Zoolander 2”

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz is preparing to (blue) steel the spotlight in the Zoolander sequel…

The 40-year-old Spanish actress and Oscar winner has signed on to star opposite Ben Stiller in Paramount Pictures’ comedy Zoolander 2.

Directed by Stiller, from a Justin Theroux-penned script, Stiller will reprise his role as empty headed supermodel Derek Zoolander. There have been rumors that Will Ferrell will be back as the sinister Mugatu and Owen Wilson as Zoolander’s supermodel rival Hansel.

The original Zoolander has become a cult classic, with Stiller fully committing to the character, with some hilarious moments in the original, from Blue Steel to the catwalk showdown between Zoolander and Hansel, to the freak gasoline fight accident that was one of the funniest movie comedy moments in recent years.

No word on what role Cruz will portray in the sequel.

Cruz recently wrapped production on the Julio Medem-directed Mama in Spain, and she plays a small role in the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy Grimsby.

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