Esai Morales in Negotiations to Star in the Action Thriller “Shadow”

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Esai Morales could be preparing for a little shadow play soon…

The 60-year-old Puerto Rican actor is in talks to star in the action thriller Shadow, which XYZ Films has boarded.

XYZ acquired world sales — minus select territories — to the film, which is inspired by true events.

Colombian filmmaker Antonio Negret is directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Daniel Negret.

The film will begin production in the fall in Colombia.

The plot follows a real-life Colombian police dog named Sombra, who, after piling up hundreds of arrests, became the cartel’s public number one enemy. As a result, a bounty is put on her head. After the cartel’s new leader sets a trap to abduct the dog, Sombra’s once reluctant handler must risk his life and career to save his partner.

The cast features Colombian actors Juan Pablo Raba and Natalia Reyes alongside Kate Del Castillo.

Previously sold territories include Latin America (CDC), Brazil (CDC), Mexico (CDC), Russia (Volga), Middle East (Selim), Korea (Noori), and Indonesia (PT Amero).

“After having spent a great deal of time in Colombia, I became incredibly passionate about and committed to telling important and inspiring stories from a regional perspective with local stars like Juan Pablo & Natalia,” said Sentient president Renee Tab. “I’m looking forward to once again teaming up with long-term collaborators Pierre Morel, and Antonio Negret (as well as his brother Daniel) to shape this true story into an action narrative inspired by a drug-sniffing German Shepherd named Sombra.”

Morales’ previous credits include La Bamba, American Family, Resurrection Boulevard, Ozark and Titans.

Negret is best known for his debut film Towards Darkness, starring America Ferrera, which premiered in competition at Tribeca. His follow-ups Seconds Apart, a supernatural horror/thriller, was released by Lionsgate, and thriller Transit starring Jim Caviezel, was released by Silver Pictures/Dark Castle.

Natalia Reyes to Star in Lionsgate’s Action-Thriller “Shadow Force”

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Reyes is casting shadows…

The 35-year-old Colombian actress will star opposite Mark Strong, Jahleel Kamara, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, Yoson An and Ed Quinn in Lionsgate’s action-thriller Shadow Force, from director Joe Carnahan.

The film has entered production in Colombia.

The actors join an ensemble led by Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, which also includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cliff “Method Man” Smith.

The film penned by Leon Chills and Carnahan follows Kyrah (Washington) and Isaac (Sy), who were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they go underground. With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes all-out war.

Details as to the roles the film’s newest cast members will play are being kept under wraps. But Stephen “Dr.” Love is producing via his company Made with Love Media—which has an overall deal with Lionsgate—alongside Simpson Street’s Washington and Pilar Savone, and Sterling K. Brown for Indian Meadows Productions.

Shadow Force has received approval to obtain the CINA incentive (Audiovisual Investment Certificate), granted by the Colombian government and administered by Proimágenes Colombia: a tax discount equivalent to 35% of the expenditure on audiovisual services in the country.

Reyes was most recently seen in the leading role of Dani in Terminator: Dark Fate — prior to that, starring in Ciro Guerra’s Birds of Passage, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as an official Fortnight selection.

Additionally, she starred in Peter Webber’s Pickpockets and in Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas, one of Colombia and Netflix Latin America’s most popular series.

Natalia Reyes to Star in the Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Thriller “Tomorrow Before After”

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Reyes has big plans for tomorrow…

The 34-year-old Colombian actress has signed on to star in Tomorrow Before After, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that’s scheduled to start shooting this month in Colombia.

The film, from writer/director Alfonso Quijada (El Suspiro del Silencio), centers on a woman with no name (played by Reyes) who struggles to survive on her own in a post-apocalyptic world, searching for others, with only a stray dog by her side.

In her quest, she collides with a world that is collapsed and utterly destroyed, and it seems, for a long time, that she is the only survivor in the world—until she discovers one day that she is pregnant. Not understanding how this could be possible, she then begins to question her own existence.

Reyes is best known for her turn as Dani Ramos in Tim Miller’s Terminator: Dark Fate, which James Cameron produced for Skydance and Paramount.

She also starred in the crime drama Birds of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Among her television credits is Sony’s hit Latin American series Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas, in which she played Lady Tabares.

Natalia Reyes to Join Her “Terminator: Dark Fate” Cast Mates at San Diego Comic-Con

Posted on July 3, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Reyes is headed to Comic-Con…

The 32-year-old Colombian actress and her Terminator: Dark Fate co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna and Diego Boneta, as well as director Tim Miller, are also expected to hit the stage in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).

Reyes and the gang will make the trek for Paramountand Skydance’s Terminator: Dark Fate panel, which will be held July 18.

With a start time of 11:00 a.m. PT, the Dark Fate presentation will kick off the Hall H proceedings.

With Hamilton joining Schwarzenegger onstage, the panel will see the two original Terminator actors usher in a new and rising generation of Hollywood talent.

The presentation is expected to reveal new footage from the sci-fi action movie that opens on November 1.

Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage” Selected as Colombia’s Official Entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar Race

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Ciro Guerra is hoping for Oscar passage again…

The 37-year-oldColombian film director and screenwriter’s Birds of Passage, a sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, has been selected as Colombia’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar race, according to distributor The Orchard.

The film is directed by Cristina Gallego and Guerra — the respective producer and director of 2015’s Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Birds of Passage premiered as the opening-night selection of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Tracing the origins of the Colombian drug trade as it slowly corrupts a native Wayúu family, Birds of Passage stars Jose Acosta, Carmiña Martínez and Natalia Reyes (the upcoming Terminator reboot).

The film will screen at the Toronto Film Festival and is set for release by The Orchard on Wednesday, February 13th in New York and Los Angeles, with a national rollout to follow.

“We are incredibly humbled and honored to again be the Colombian selection for entry to the Academy Awards, especially with a film that is so personal to our country’s history and narrative,” said Gallego and Guerra. “We are very grateful to La Academia Colombiana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, which has supported us throughout our careers. It is with great pride that we bring this film to a global audience.”

Bardem to Star in Peter Webber’s First Spanish-Language Film “Carteristas”

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Bardem has (pick)pocketed a new project…

The 53-year-old Spanish actor is set to star in the tentatively titled film Carteristas, the drama set in the capital of Colombia, Bogota.

Peter Webber, renowned for his Oscar-nominated The Girl with a Pearl Earring, will direct the film, his first Spanish-language pic.

Carteristas tracks a 16-year old street urchin who, together with two pals, learns the art of pickpocketing from a master in the sleight of hand.

Bardem plays mentor to the 16-year old played by newcomer Emiliano Pernia, the son of Colombian actress Marcela Mar, who appears as his onscreen mother. Natalia Reyes and theatre actor Duban Prado complete the triad of friends.

Principal photography kicked off on Sunday, October 23 in Bogota with Colombian filmmakers Diana Rico and Richard Decaillet serving as associate directors.

“I’ve been visiting Colombia regularly for over a decade, and have shot some documentary material here,” said Webber. “The chance to make a feature film set in Bogota, one of the world’s most gritty and cinematic cities, is very exciting,” he added. Fluent in Spanish, Webber has previously worked in Japanese and Arabic.

Bardem, the brother of Javier Bardem, has previously appeared in the film’s Paradise Lost, The Debt and Days of Grace.

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