Xolo Maridueña to Star in the Eif Rivera-Directed Film “Killing Castro”

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Xolo Maridueña is killin’ it in Hollywood…

The 22-year-old Mexican, Cuban and Ecuadorian American actor and Blue Beetle star will star in the film Killing Castro.

Eif Rivera will direct the film from a script by Leon Hendrix, Thomas DeGrezia and Colin Bateman. This will be Rivera’s first feature film.

In addition to Maridueña, who rose to acclaim in Cobra Kai, will star alongside

Al Pacino, Mexican superstar Diego Boneta, KiKi Layne, Alexander Ludwig, Ron Livingston, Kendrick Sampson, Nicole Beharie, Logan Marshall Green and Titus Welliver in the film.

Based on true events, the film is set in 1960. Shortly after winning the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro travels to New York City to deliver his first speech to the United Nations. When met with hostility at his original hotel, Castro meets Malcolm X who invites him to stay at famed Hotel Theresa in Harlem. With the eyes of the world watching, a rookie undercover FBI agent originally assigned to investigate Malcolm X suddenly becomes the FBI’s most valuable asset, and is tasked with keeping Castro from being eliminated by the CIA and the Italian mafia, by any means necessary.

Killing Castro will be produced by Romulus Entertainment’s Brad Feinstein, along with Christina Weiss Lurie of Fourth and Twenty-Eight Films. Romulus will also finance. Principal photography will take place in Newark, NJ.

“I am honored to be part of telling such an important story that is a piece of history which was largely unknown,” said Feinstein. “Killing Castro perfectly encapsulates the type of stories we strive to tell at Romulus Entertainment, stories that do more than entertain audiences, but create thought-provoking diverse content that bring to light the complexities of real life. We are looking forward to working with the incredible cast led by the inimitable Eif Rivera.”

Rivera is known for directing BMF, and TV shows including Force and Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

“I am excited to bring to life this compelling true story with the help of my remarkable cast and formidable producing team at Romulus Entertainment,” Rivera said.

Aaron Dominguez to Star in Amazon Studio’s “Sitting in Bars with Cake”

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Aaron Dominguez is setting the bar…

The 28-year-old Latino actor will star in Amazon Studios’ rom-com Sitting in Bars with Cake.

Dominguez is among a roster of new cast additions that includes Bette Midler, Maia Mitchell, Ron Livingston, Rish Shah and Odessa A’zion.

Rounding out the group, led by previously announced star and EP Yara Shahidi, are Martha Kelly, Adina Porter, Navid Negahban, Simone Recasner, Will Ropp and Charlie Morgan Patton.

Details regarding the characters they will portray are still under wraps.

Sitting in Bars with Cake begins production next month in Los Angeles.

Based on a true story, Sitting in Bars with Cake follows a quiet young woman who is unlucky in love and discovers an unlikely guy magnet when she bakes a cake for her best friend’s birthday and brings it to a bar, only to be swarmed by men. She believes it’s a fluke, but her friend convinces her to commit to a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars, with the goal of finding true love. The shy young woman’s life subsequently opens up in ways she couldn’t have imagined.

Trish Sie is directing the film from Audrey Shulman’s script adapted from her blog and book of the same name.

Dominguez’s previous credits include Only Murders in the Building, Shaft and Words on Bathroom Walls.

Krystina Alabado Joins Voice Cast of AMC’s Animated Drama Series “Pantheon”

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Krystina Alabado is getting animated…

The 31-year-old half-Mexican American actress, who stars as Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway music Mean Girls, has joined the voice cast of Pantheon, AMC’s first hour-long animated primetime drama series.

Alabado joins a voice cast that includes Daniel Dae Kim, Katie Chang, Ron Livingston, Chris Diamantopoulos, Raza Jaffrey, Scoot McNairy, Anika Noni Rose, Grey Griffin, SungWon Cho, Kevin Durand and Samuel Roukin.

They join previously announced Taylor Schilling, Paul Dano, Rosemarie DeWitt and Aaron Eckhart in the series, which hails from Craig Silverstein and AMC Studios.

Pantheon, which received a two-season order in March, is based on the short stories by Ken Liu about Uploaded Intelligence, or human consciousness uploaded to the cloud.

The innovative series’ visual style is described as a fresh take on graphic realism done in a traditional 2D way, using modern tools.

“Ken’s engaging and thought-provoking short stories pave the way for a deeply gripping series, and I couldn’t ask for a greater group of talented voices to bring these complex characters to life,” said Silverstein.

In its first season, Pantheon focuses on Maddie (Chang), a bullied teen who receives mysterious help from someone online. The stranger is soon revealed to be her recently deceased father, David (Kim), whose consciousness has been uploaded to the Cloud following an experimental destructive brain scan. David is the first of a new kind of being: an “Uploaded Intelligence” or “UI,” but he will not be the last, as a global conspiracy unfolds that threatens to trigger a new kind of world war.

Alabado will voice the character of Hannah.

In addition to starring in the Mean Girls musical, Alabado appeared on television in Tyrant and God Friended Me.

Perez to Appear on TBS’ Comedy Series “Search Party”

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez is sending out a search party…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican actress has joined the cast of TBS’ comedy series Search Party.

Perez will join Ron Livingston, Parker Posey and Christine Taylor as recurring actors on the show, while Brandon Micheal Hall has signed on as a series regular.

Slated to premiere in late 2016, Search Party is a dark comedy about four self-absorbed 20-somethings who become entangled in an ominous mystery when a former college acquaintance named Chantal suddenly disappears.

Led by Alia Shawkat, the cast features an ensemble of young comic actors, including John Early, John Reynolds and Meredith Hagner.

Hall plays Julian, Dory’s journalist ex-boyfriend who seeks the truth no matter who it hurts. Perez is Lorraine, a realtor whose life may be in peril for knowing too much about the missing girl. Livingston plays Keith, a private detective who takes Shawkat’s Dory under his wing in the hunt for the missing Chantal. Posey is Brick, the head of an artisanal boutique which turns out to be much more sinister than expected. And Taylor plays Gail, Dory’s bored and wealthy employer who revels in getting the scoop on her hunt for Chantal.

TBS Originals is producing Search Party in association with Jax Media.

Film Arcade to Release Mescudi’s “James White” in November

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi latest film is hitting theaters in November.

This year’s Sundance Film Festival’s Best of Next award winner James White, starring the 31-year-old part-Mexican American hip-hop singer/actor, is getting an awards-season push from distributor The Film Arcade, beginning with a theatrical release on November 13.

Starring Mescudi, Christopher Abbott and Cynthia Nixon, the coming-of-age story follows a young New Yorker struggling with self-destructive tendencies in the midst of momentous family changes. While the young man’s mother deals with serious illness, he must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding.

The feature debut of writer-director Josh Mond, James White also stars Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston and David Call.

Film Arcade is still solidifying the details of the theatrical release but intends to keep it in theaters as long as it can. The film will make the festival rounds before its release, including the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Rodriguez’s “Fort Bliss” to be Released in U.S. Theaters in the Fall

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Freddy Rodriguez’s latest project is headed to the big screen this fall…

Phase 4 Films has acquired the North American distribution rights to Fort Bliss, starring the 39-year-old Puerto Rican actor and former Six Feet Under star.

The Claudia Myers-directed drama tells the story of a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother who returns home after an extended tour of duty in Afghanistan to discover the bond with her 5-year-old son has been broken.

While struggling to reclaim her son’s affection, she must also reintegrate into life after war, haunted by harrowing memories from Afghanistan.

Fort Bliss not only explores the incredible sacrifices made every day by men and women in the armed services, but the price that’s paid by their families as well.

In addition to Rodriguez, who portrays Garver, the film, which was written by Myers, also stars Michelle Monaghan, Ron Livingston, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Gbenga Akkinagbe, Pablo Schreiber and John Savage.

Fort Bliss will be released in the fall.

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