Pepe Barroso to Star in Gladiator Drama “Those About to Die”

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Pepe Barroso is preparing for battle …

The 26-year-old Spanish actor has been cast in Peacock’s epic gladiator drama Those About to Die, as principal photography on the Roland Emmerich series kicked off at Rome’s historic Cinecittà Studios.

Barroso, who recently starred in Gran Turismo, joins a list of new cast additions that includes Iwan Rheon, Liraz Charhi, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, Eneko Sagardoy, Gonçalo Almeida, Kyshan Wilson and Alicia Edogamhe.

Inspired by Daniel Mannix’s nonfiction book, Those About to Die is billed as an epic drama set in the complex and corrupt world of ancient Rome’s spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition.

AGC Television is the studio, with additional financing provided by High End Productions and with local production services provided by Italy’s Wildside Productions.

Anthony Hopkins will play Vespasian, the Emperor of Rome and head of the Flavian bloodline, and the likes of Sara Martins and Dimitri Leonidas have already been cast for key roles.

Sagardoy (Giant, Elite), Barroso (45 rpm) and Almeida (Esperança) play the Corsi brothers.

Emmerich is directing alongside Marco Kreuzpaintner, with Robert Rodat writing.

Michael Peña to Star on Season 4 of Amazon Prime Video’s Series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Peña is getting Jack’ed…

The 45-year-old Mexican American has joined the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski, for the fourth season.

The series was renewed for a fourth season, ahead of the series’ Season 3 premiere.

No word yet on Peña’s role.

Production recently wrapped on Season 3, and a premiere date will be announced later.

Season 3 finds Jack Ryan (Krasinski) on the run and in a race against time. Jack is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy and suddenly finds himself a fugitive out in the cold. Now, wanted by both the CIA and an international rogue faction that he has uncovered, Jack is forced underground, crisscrossing Europe, trying to stay alive and prevent a massive global conflict.

In addition to Krasinski, returning for the third season of the dramatic series are Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a co-production of Amazon Studios, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television.

Peña was most recently seen in Warner Bros’ live-action hybrid Tom & Jerry and can be seen next in the Roland Emmerich film Moonfall for Lionsgate and in the Paramount family/action pic Secret Headquarters.

On television, Peña also starred in the Netflix series Narcos; Mexico and in Fox’s Gracepoint.

Michael Peña to Star in Roland Emmerich’s Sci-Fi Epic “Moonfall”

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Peña is out of this world…

The 45-year-old Mexican American actor has been cast in the Roland Emmerich-helmed sci-fi epic Moonfall.

Peña joins an A-list ensemble cast that includes Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Eme Ikwuakor, Charlie Plummer and Donald Sutherland.

The space drama takes off with a mysterious force that knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact, and against all odds, a ragtag team launches an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love and risking everything to land on the lunar surface and save our planet from annihilation.

Peña is taking over the role previously held by Stanley Tucci, who had to exit the project due to government-imposed travel restrictions banning UK flights into Canada.

Peña will play Tom Lopez, a wealthy car dealer who is married to Brian Harper’s (Wilson) ex-wife, the loving and fierce Brenda, played by Carolina Bartczak.

Emmerich, Harald Kloser, and Spenser Cohen penned the screenplay.

Centropolis is overseeing all aspects of production, financing, delivery, and distribution and marketing in collaboration with Lionsgate, AGC Studios, and other distribution partners. Lionsgate is distributing the film in North America.

Moonfall is set to hit theaters in 2022.

Peña will soon be seen starring in the Warner Bros. live-action/animation hybrid Tom & Jerry, slated to debut on HBO Max and in theaters on February 26.

Centropolis Entertainment Acquires the Screen Rights to “Maya Lord,” About Gonzalo Guerrero

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

The story of the father of Mexico’s first Mestizo family is headed to the big screen…

Roland Emmerich’s Centropolis Entertainment has acquired the screen rights to John Coe Robbins’ historical novel Maya Lord.‎

The novel tells the fact-based story of Gonzalo Guerrero, who was shipwrecked in a violent storm in 1511, and found himself cast away on an unknown shore in the New World. He and his Spaniard shipmates were enslaved by a Mayan tribe.

With no hope of escape, the brilliant and pragmatic adventurer searches for a way to advance in a strange new culture. As one of the captives eventually joins Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico, Gonzalo adopts Mayan ways and rises to become a major warlord, defending the Mayan people against Cortes and other Spanish conquistadors.

Guerrero, who married the daughter of a Maya chieftain, is generally regarded in Mexico as the father of the first Mestizo family.

Emmerich has been passionate about Guerrero’s story for years.

ReelzChannel Orders Sanchez’s “The Big Picture” Talk Show

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Lauren Sanchez is shining a spotlight on the big picture to television…

ReelzChannel has ordered 26 episodes of the 43-year-old Latina news anchor’s The Big Picture.

The weekly talk show will cover the world of entertainment. The new late night show aims to cover all aspects of film and television in a chatty and irreverent manner.

Sanchez will co-host The Big Picture, which is set to debut on June 20, with former Telemundo host Alex Cambert.

The former So You Think You Can Dance host will also serve as the executive producer of The Big Picture.

A former Good Day LA back-up anchor and Extra! correspondent, Sanchez also appears later this summer in the Roland Emmerich-directed White House Down.

Sanchez has previously played a TV reporter in other movies like Fight Club, Fantastic Four and 2011’s We Bought A Zoo.

Curnen Lands Role in ABC Drama Pilot

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Monique Gabriela Curnen could soon be back on the police beat…

The 34-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress, who has starred as a detective on The Unusuals and Lie to Me, has signed on to star on ABC’s untitled Roland Emmerich drama pilot.

German film director, screenwriter, and producer Emmerich will co-write and direct the project, which centers on Carter (Max Thieriot), an astrophysics grad student in NYC who learns that he is the chosen one to destroy the forces of evil.

Curnen, who has appeared as an FBI agent Fast & Furious will play tough, no-nonsense FBI Agent Tracy Meyers.

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