RLJE Acquires North American Rights to Action Thriller “Muzzle,” Featuring Diego Tinoco

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Diego Tinoco will help bring the thrill to American theaters…

RLJE has acquired the North American rights to Muzzle, an action thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and featuring the 25-year-old Mexican, Colombian and Ecuadorian American actor.

Directed by John Stalberg Jr. and based on a script by Carlyle Eubank from a story by Eubank and Stalberg Jr., the film is set to debut in theaters and will be made available on all rental platforms on September 29.

RLJE is a business unit of AMC Networks.

“Muzzle is a fully charged ride led by a gripping performance from Aaron Eckhart,” said RLJE Film Chief Acquisitions Officer Mark Ward, “We can’t wait to unleash the film to audiences this fall.”

“We are thrilled to have Mark and the outstanding team at RLJE come on board to distribute Muzzle. They are the perfect partner to introduce this exciting action-packed thriller to audiences in the U.S,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser.

“Muzzle is an intense and compelling actioner full of twists and turns – we are so proud to be a part of this fantastic project!” added Highland Film Group COO Delphine Perrier.

Eckhart starsas LAPD K-9 officer Jake Rosser who has just witnessed the shocking murder of his dedicated partner by a mysterious assailant. Blocked by Internal Affairs, muzzled by his own superiors from finding the shooter’s identity, Jake resolves to go rogue and partners with “Socks”, a violent K-9. Together, the pair works to unravel a vast conspiracy.

The ensemble also includes Stephen Lang, On My Block star Tinoco, Penelope Mitchell and Kyle Smithson.

Felix Solis to Star Opposite Niecy Nash in ABC’s Proposed “The Rookie” Spinoff

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Felix Solis is reporting for duty…

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star opposite Niecy Nash in ABC’s proposed spinoff from The Rookie.

Solis will guest star alongside Kat Foster in a two-episode arc in the current fourth season of The Rookie, which will serve as a backdoor pilot for the potential spinoff of the series starring Nathan Fillion.

The yet-untitled project will expand beyond the current Los Angeles Police Department and revolve around the FBI.

The potential new series comes from The Rookie creator/executive producer Alexi Hawley, executive producers Terence Paul Winter and Mark Gordon and studios eOne and ABC Signature.

The planted spinoff, co-created and written by Hawley and Winter, follows the premise of The Rookie, which stars Fillion as John Nolan, the oldest rookie in the LAPD.

In the two embedded pilot episodes, Officer John Nolan (Fillion) and the LA division of the FBI enlist the help of FBI trainee Simone Clark (Nash) when one of her former students is suspected of terrorism following an explosion at a local power station.

Solis will play Special Agent Matthew Garza, a 20-year veteran of the FBI who has been a true believer in the “Agency way” his whole career. A senior agent on the cusp of being promoted to a leadership role, Garza is tough, smart and filled with a little too much self-importance.

The Rookie and the spinoff will exist in the same universe, allowing characters to move back and forth.

Solis was most recently seen as Omar Navarro in Netflix’s Ozark and in the recurring role of Ray Vera in Charmed.

David DeSantos to Appear on Fifth Season of CBS’ “S.W.A.T.”

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

David DeSantos is joining the team…

The 46-year-old Latino actor has landed a recurring role on the upcoming fifth season of CBS’ S.W.A.T.

DeSantos will play Rodrigo Sanchez, a 20-year LAPD veteran and former SWAT member.

Sanchez is a gregarious, confident, and savvy political climber who left SWAT in pursuit of loftier jobs within the LAPD.

S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as a former Marine and locally born-and-raised SWAT sergeant who is tasked with running a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles.

DeSantos can be seen recurring on Season 3 of the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, as well as on TNT’s Animal Kingdom.

On the film side, he recently appeared opposite Edward James Olmos and Richard Cabral in Windows on the World.

FX Renews Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s “Snowfall” for Fifth Season

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s fall continues…

FX has given Snowfall, starring the 45-year-old Spanish actor, an early renewal for a fifth season, just three episodes into Season 4.

The crime drama from the late John Singleton, Eric Amadio and Dave Andron is seeing ratings spurt in its fourth season to date, up 41% over the same period in Season 3 and averaging 5.1 million total viewers across all platforms.

Snowfall, which airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm, takes place in the 1980s in South Central Los Angeles. The demand for crack cocaine is high, and while our crew of dealers led by Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) are benefitting greatly from the rising tide of addiction, they are also starting to become aware of the damage the drug is doing to the people and the place they love.

With the entire nation taking note, the LAPD is diverting serious money and resources to the “war on drugs.” Politicians’ phones are ringing. Powerful people are concerned from the hallways of the White House to those of CIA headquarters, where there are whispers that one of their own may be involved in this burgeoning epidemic.

In addition to Peris-Menchata and Idris, the series also stars Carter Hudson, Isaiah John, Amin Joseph and Angela Lewis also star. The Season 4 finale will air on April 21.

Alyssa Diaz’s “The Rookie” to Address Police Brutality in Season 3

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Alyssa Diaz’s art will imitate life in the near future.

ABC’s police drama The Rookie, starring the 34-year-old part Colombian and Mexican actress, will address the issue of police brutality during its upcoming third season.

Show creator Alexi Hawley has brought in a number of experts to discuss the issues around policing in America in 2020, according to ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke.

“Alexi Hawley is a really thoughtful ally and partner and has been in the writers’ room for some time, already planning to address the current conversation going on around police work,” she tells Deadline.com. “I’m impressed with his thoughtfulness and leadership about hearing and adapting the current conversations to the storylines. It’s a diverse writers room and I’m hearing that the conversations going on in that room are inspired and give me hope that that show will address and not ignore the conversations around policing.”

In addition to Diaz, who portrays Angela Lopez, The Rookiealso stars Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, the oldest rookie in the LAPD, Mekia Cox, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin, Melissa O’Neil and Eric Winter.

The series is produced by Entertainment One (eOne) and ABC Studios.

Diaz’s other television credits include Narcos: Mexico, Lethal Weapon, NCIS: Los Angeles and Ray Donovan.

Briarcliff Entertainment Acquires US Rights to Raúl Castillo’s Latino Superhero Film “El Chicano”

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

El Chicano will be sweeping into theaters next year…

Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to the Latino superhero film with an all-Hispanic cast, including star Raúl Castillo.

The action film tells the story of twin brothers Diego and Pedro (both played by Castillo), who grew up together on the streets of East Los Angeles. As adults, their lives took radically different paths as Diego became a celebrated detective for the LAPD, and Pedro turned to a dead-end life of crime. When clues start connecting Pedro’s death to a case Diego is working on, a mythological figure from his youth, The Ghetto Grim Reaper, draws Diego in deeper than he ever expected. He becomes that figure, a Hispanic version of Batman or Black Panther.

The film also stars George Lopez, Aimee Garcia, Emilio Rivera, Kate del Castillo, Mr. Criminal, Noel G. Marco Rodriguez, Marlene Forte, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sal Lopez, David Castañeda and Armida Lopez.

El Chicano marks the feature film directorial debut of 25-year veteran stuntman Ben Hernandez Bray, who co-wrote the script with Joe Carnahan.

Carnahan was frustrated waiting for Bad Boys 3 to come together, he succumbed to Bray’s rationale and bailed on one franchise in hopes of starting another.

“I was frustrated with Bad Boys 3, and Ben had been talking about this for a decade,” Carnahan said. “He would tell me that 25% of movie tickets are purchased by Latinos, and so where are their big heroes? We wrote this on spec, and these white oil and gas guys from Canada gave us the money to make it at an under $8 million budget. It got an amazing response at the L.A. Film Festival. We believe in this, and that it can find a big audience and launch a franchise.”

Said Bray: “Just the fact that we’re making this announcement during Hispanic Heritage Month, which celebrates the vital and important presence of Hispanics and Latinos in North America, is wonderful to me. The time is now for a film like El Chicano. A Latino superhero franchise is long overdue, but to have the forces of Joe Carnahan, Frank Grillo, Tom Ortenberg and Lorenzo di Bonaventurain the mix just makes it even sweeter and well worth the wait!”

The film will be released theatrically on March 22, 2019, with a reported target of 600-800 screens.

David Fumero Lands Role on Spectrum’s “Bad Boys” Spinoff Series “L.A.’s Finest”

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Finest hour for David Fumero…

The 45-year-old Cuban actor has landed a recurring roles on L.A.’s Finest, Spectrum’s 13-episode series starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba.

The spinoff from the Bad Boys movie franchise hails from writers Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, Sony Pictures Television, Jerry Bruckheimer Television and 2.0 Entertainment.

It follows Burnett (Union), who last was seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel. She now has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna (Alba), a working mom with an equally complex past, Burnett is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don’t agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.

Fumero will play Lt. Jason Calloway, an LAPD lieutenant with the Narcotics Division. He and Syd had a one-night stand that colors their occasionally adversarial relationship around the office. A good cop and a total pro; not above arresting any cop who crosses the line.

Union and Alba executive produce alongside co-showrunners Margolis, Sonnier, and Pam Veasey.

Fumero was a series regular on the Starz drama Power.

Fumero, who first began as an international fashion model for such fashion powerhouses as Versace, Armani, John-Paul Gauthier, and Dior, rose to fame on the ABCsoap opera One Life to Live.

Alejandro Cast as Series Regular on Fox’s Comic Book Drama “Lucifer”

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Kevin Alejandro has earned a devilish role…

The 39-year-old Mexican American actor has been cast as a series regular on Fox’s comic book midseason drama Lucifer.

Alejandro, who appeared on True Blood and Arrow, replaces Nicholas Gonzalez who played the role in the pilot, written by Tom Kapinos and directed by Len Wiseman.

Based on the characters from the DC Entertainment’s Vertigo, the series, from Warner Bros. Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, centers on Lucifer (Tom Ellis) who, bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the gorgeous, shimmering insanity of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals.

Alejandro will play Dan, a gruff LAPD homicide detective who is wary of Lucifer’s involvement with his wife and daughter.

Alejandro just recently became available, coming off the A&E drama The Returned. He previously was a regular on Southland and Golden Boy.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: LAPD