The 26-year-old Guatemalan & Mexican American has joined the cast of TriStar’s untitled buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and four-time Grammy-winning musician Sza.
Monterroso Mejia is among a roster of new cast additions that includes Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Maude Apatow and Katt Williams.
Joshua Neal,Aziza Scott and Patrick Cage will also star.
The logline is being kept under wraps.
Lawrence Lamont is directing with the screenplay written by Syreeta Singleton.
The project came together from the CoCre lab at Sony Pictures, a previous pact between ColorCreative and Sony to source and incubate emerging, diverse screenwriters to develop and write their first studio feature based on original ideas.
Monterroso Mejia is best known for her character Maria Sofia Estrada on Season 11 of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Upcoming, Monterroso Mejia will star opposite Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in You’re Cordially Invited for Amazon, written and directed by Nick Stoller.
She’ll star opposite Seth Rogen in The Studio, Apple TV+’s upcoming comedy series from Rogen’s Point Grey, and will also appear in Mindy Kaling’s pro basketball comedy series Running Point for Netflix.
Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal are bringing the boys south of the border…
The 43-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer and the 44-year-old Mexican Golden Globe-winning actor and producer will executive produce and possibly appear in acting roles in The Boys: Mexico, a new series offshoot of The Boys from Blue Beetle writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.
Details regarding the premise of the series are being kept under wraps.
A search is currently underway for a co-showrunner to join creator, writer and executive producer Dunnet-Alcocer, who is now working on the script.
The team behind The Boys: Mexico, which will be shot in the Latin American country, is working on budgets for the new series and they have yet to begin casting, sources said.
The Mexico-set offshoot comes from the main creative auspices behind the other series in The Boys franchise, the mothership’s developer Eric Kripke and his Kripke Enterprises, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures, Neil H. Moritz’s Original Film, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios. Loreli Alba is expected to oversee for Point Grey.
The Boys, based on the New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, shares a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes—who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as gods—abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. Intent on stopping the corrupt superheroes, The Boys, a group of vigilantes, continue their heroic quest to expose the truth about The Seven and Vought—the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty secrets. It’s the seemingly powerless against the super-powerful.
Following the breakout success of The Boys, which is headed to Season 4, two spinoff series were released in 2023: the animated The Boys Presents: Diabolical, which premiered in March, and the college-set spinoff Gen V, which recently concluded its first season and has been renewed for Season 2.
The Boys: Mexico is the latest project hailing from rising star Dunnet-Alcocer, who penned the screenplay for the Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Studios superhero feature film, Blue Beetle. Most recently, he wrote the screenplay for Sony’s El Muertofrom director Jonás Cuarón. The Queretaro, Mexico native also wrote and executive produced Miss Balain 2019. Additionally, Dunnet-Alcocer is attached as screenwriter of the Universal Pictures’ reimagination of Scarface.
Luna and García Bernal are veteran actors whose careers exploded following their collaboration in the hit 2001 Spanish-language feature Y Tu Mamá También directed by Alfonso Cuarón. They have reunited multiple times since then including in Rudo y Cursi (2008) and Casa de Mi Padre(2012).
Most recently Luna joined the Star Wars universe in the Disney+ TV seriesAndor, a prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One.
García Bernal most recently starred in the Amazon bio-drama Cassandro portraying the titular gay wrestler born Saúl Armendáriz.
The longtime friends and collaborators became producing partners in 2018 under their La Corriente del Golfo banner. Recent projects they produced include the aforementioned Cassandro and the series Pan y Circo hosted by Luna, both for Amazon.
In celebration of MAR10 Day (March 10), the 26-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress joined her Super Mario Bros. Movie,Tonight Showhost Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to one-up the game franchise’s original theme song.
Taylor-Joy, who portrays Princess Peach, Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key and Charlie Day joined Fallon and his in-house band for a special Tonight Show video, singing a choral rendition of the instantly recognizable video game’s theme song.
In the video, Fallon and the actors take turns taking center stage as Questlove and other members of The Roots add layers of suave harmony. All the while, the singers are edited into the pixelated landscape of the Mario universe, where they pop in and out of green pipes and send shells flying at one another.
Then, Nintendo legend and Mario game creator Shigeru Miyamoto makes an appearance, and even has a little solo at the very end of the video.
Fans in the comments absolutely loved the creative take on the Mario music.
“Broooo… This is so awesome!” wrote one. “Just to see the voice cast of The Super Mario Bros Movie and even seeing Miyamoto singing [an a cappella] cover of the iconic Super Mario tracks is just phenomenal to watch.”
“The ending was a masterpiece in every way,” added another.
The 19-year-old Latino actor will lend his voice to the CG-animated theatrical feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions.
Seth Rogen, who voices mutant warthog Bebop, made the announcement at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday night in an appearance alongside lead cast members Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Cantu and Brady Noon.
Abbey will voice Ninja Turtle Donatello, with Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Cantu as Leonardo and Noon as Raphael.
Others lending their voices to the film heading to theaters on August 4 include Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog; Rose Byrne as Leatherhead; John Cena as Rocksteady; Jackie Chan as Splinter; Ice Cube as Superfly; Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut; Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil; Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman; Post Malone as Ray Fillet; Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko; and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is an original story following the crime-fighting Ninja Turtles as they protect the sewers and streets of New York City. After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil (Edibiri) helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) directed the film, marking Nickelodeon’s first-ever CG-animated theatrical production. Point Grey Productions’ Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver produced, with the company’s Lukas Williams co-producing and its own Josh Fagen overseeing the project. Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation President Ramsey Naito and Jason McConnell have overseen production for Nickelodeon, with Paramount to handle the film’s worldwide distribution.
“We are beyond thrilled by this world-class cast we’ve assembled to bring these iconic, beloved characters to life in a new chapter of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe,” said Naito in a statement. “This really sets a new bar for this globally celebrated franchise, and we can’t wait to show audiences this film.”
An enduring kids’ franchise created in 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesbegan its life as a comic book series which spurred a hit animated TV show, a live-action series and numerous blockbuster theatrical releases. The property is a global consumer products powerhouse that has generated billions by way of toys, apparel, video games, DVDs and more. Nickelodeon most recently revitalized it with the CG-animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesin 2012, with a 2D animated series titled Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesfollowing in 2019.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s super launch will begin sooner than expected.
Illumination Entertainment/Universal’ film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress, will open around the world on Wednesday, April 5, before Easter weekend.
The film had been set for Good Friday, April 7.
In what arguably could be one of the biggest openings of the spring, the animated film featuring Chris Pratt, Chris Day, Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, et al., is going earlier to capitalize on spring breaks stateside and so that fans can experience it around the globe at the same time.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the film will launch in more than 60 markets on its opening day.
Ten markets for Super Mario Bros. in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe are opening on a variety of dates in April and May including Japan, where it will open on April 28 timed to the Golden Week holidays.
Should this film open big it will be a huge win for Nintendo on the big screen. The last Super Mario Bros movie in 1993 — a live-action adaptation of the hit videogame franchise released by Buena Vista and starring the late Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi — was expected to be a summer tentpole back then, but tanked off a mid-$40M production cost with a global gross near $39M.
This Super Mario Bros animated film is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, and was co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo.
The Nintendo Direct YouTube channel has unveiled the second trailer for Illumination’s Super Mario Bros Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress as Princess Peach.
In the new trailer, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) enters a cheering arena where he faces off with Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogen). Mario jumps and the big ape catches the little guy in mid air before whacking him repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Koopa has Luigi in his grip.
“One problem, there’s a human who has a mustache just like you,” says the ogre voiced by Jack Black.
We also see Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach for the first time.
“There’s a huge universe out there with a lot of galaxies,” Peach tells little mushroom guy, Toad.
Super Mario Bros Movie will be released next Easter Weekend, April 7-9.
On hand to introduce the trailer were the film’s producers Chris Melendandri, and Donkey Kong and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, as well as Rogen (with his dog named Zelda) and Taylor-Joy.
The 38-year-old Honduran American award-winning actress has joined the cast of Sony and Black Bear Pictures’ upcoming dramedy Dumb Money.
Ferrera is now part of an A-list ensemble cast that includes Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dane DeHaan and Pete Davidson, with Craig Gillespie directing.
The film is based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network. It tells the story of fortunes won and lost overnight in the David-vs.-Goliath GameStop short squeeze that may have ended up changing Wall Street forever. It offers a gripping portrayal of how a loosely affiliated group of private investors and internet trolls on a subreddit called WallStreetBets took down one of the biggest hedge funds on Wall Street, firing the first shot in a revolution that threatened to upend the establishment.
The script was adapted by Rebecca Angelo & Lauren Schuker Blum.
Principal photography is underway.
Ferrera can be seen next year in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie alongside Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu and Kate McKinnon. She recently starred on the Apple TV+ series WeCrashedopposite Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.
She is making her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughterfor Netflix.
Anya Taylor-Joy is preparing for her next royal excursion…
Illumination and Nintendo have announced the powerhouse voice cast for their upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film, which includes the 25-year-old Argentine American actress.
Taylor-Joy, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance in Queen’s Gambit, will star as Princess Peach in the film, which will hit cinemas on December 21, 2022.
Playing the fraternal, mushroom digesting plumbers and squashers of turtles are Chris Pratt as Mario and Charlie Day as Luigi.
Playing bad guy Bowser is Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
“Each voice actor was cast for their ability to capture the unique spirit of their character,” reads the release.
The co-financed feature between Universal and Nintendo will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who previously collaborated on the animated series Teen Titans Go!and the film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.
The film’s screenplay will be written by Matthew Fogel, whose credits include The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Partand the upcoming Illumination feature Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Future offshore release dates will be announced.
“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honored to have the unique opportunity to work so closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie, unlike any film Illumination has made to date,” said Chris Meledandri who is also an outside director of Nintendo.
“We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game. The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen,” said Miyamoto.
Super Mario Bros. is a huge franchise play for Universal and Illumination. Already, there’s a Super Mario Bros. land open at the Universal Japan theme park with others under construction at Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando.
The movie has been a long awaited revival for fans. There was a live action movie in 1993 starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi and Dennis Hopper as baddie King Koopa. There was also in the late 1980s The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! animated series which starred Captain Lou Albano as the voice of Mario and Danny Wells as the voice of Luigi.
Mario Brothers was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo’s chief engineer in 1983. Super Mario Bros. the subseries, was launched in 1985. It is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with more than 758.06 million copies of games sold, including 388.92 million for the Super Mario games alone.
The 46-year-old Afro-Cuban American actor and his The Boys cast mates will take part in Amazon Prime Video’s first-ever Amazon Virtual-Con, which will include virtual experiences and activations that you can enjoy from the comfort of your home. The Amazon Virtual-Con is part of Comic-Con@Home.
The virtual event will kick off on the San Diego Comic Con’s official YouTube channel and on the Amazon Virtual-Con portal starting at 12:00 pm PST on Thursday, July 23.
Alonso’s The Boys panel, moderated by Aisha Tyler, will take place onThursday, July 23at 3:00 pm PST, with participation by executive producer Eric Kripke, along with series stars Alonso, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara and Aya Cash.
The virtual panel will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming second season of The Boys. Executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will also make a special appearance.
Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boysis a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes – who are as popular as celebrities – abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. The even more intense, more insane Season Two finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought.
Other Amazon series joining this year’s virtual edition Comic-Con include Upload, Truth Seekers and Utopia. Like every Comic-Con, the panels will include cast, creators and crew of the series and will feature fan Q&As, behind-the-scene-stories, breaking news from the aforementioned series.
Virtual-Con will be available free of charge to all fans in front of the Prime Video paywall from July 23-26.
Here are the full details for the panels and Amazon Virtual-Con:
Truth Seekers Thursday, July 23 at 12:00 p.m. PST A new original supernatural horror-comedy by Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), James Serafinowicz (Sick Note) and Nat Saunders (Sick Note). Join as they discuss the making of the hilarious eight-episode series about a team of part-time paranormal investigators, who team up to uncover and film ghost sightings across the UK, sharing their adventures on an online channel for all to see. Discussion and Q&A moderated by Empire Magazine’s Chris Hewitt.
Utopia Thursday, July 23 at 1:00 p.m. PST A twisted, eight-episode thriller about a group of young comic fans who discover the conspiracy in a graphic novel is real, and embark on a high-stakes adventure to save humanity from the end of the world. Join writer and executive producer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and series stars John Cusack (High Fidelity), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Ashleigh LaThrop (Fifty Shades Freed), Dan Byrd (Cougar Town), Desmin Borges (You’re The Worst), Javon “Wanna” Walton (Euphoria), and Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) for a Q&A moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Christian Holub.
Upload Thursday, July 23 at 2:00 p.m. PST Join creator, executive producer and director Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation) and stars Robbie Amell (Code 8), Andy Allo (Pitch Perfect 3), Kevin Bigley (Undone), Allegra Edwards (New Girl), and Zainab Johnson (American Koko) as they discuss how they brought this futuristic comedy to life, share behind-the-scenes details from Season One, and tease what fans can expect in Season Two. The panel will be moderated by Engadget’s Cherlynn Low. Upload Season One is a ten-episode, half-hour, sci-fi comedy that takes place in the near future, where people can be “Uploaded” into a virtual afterlife of their choice.
The Boys Thursday, July 23 at 3:00 p.m. PST Join executive producer Eric Kripke, along with series stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara and Aya Cash, with moderator Aisha Tyler, for a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming second season of The Boys. Executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will also make a special appearance. Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boysis a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes – who are as popular as celebrities – abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. The even more intense, more insane Season Two finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought.
AMAZON VIRTUAL-CON PROGRAMMING
ComiXology’s Comic-Con@Home Panel, Plus Live Artist Drawing Sessions, Creator Interview Series, and Comic Book Movie Trivia NightSaturday, July 25 at 3:00pm PST (Comic-Con@Home panel) Are you currently reading digital comics? Are you familiar with comiXology’s exclusive digital content program – comiXology Originals? Join comiXology’s Head of Content, Chip Mosher and a cast of beloved comic creators and rising-stars including, writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Jason Loo (Afterlift), artist Claudia Aguirre (Lost on Planet Earth), writer Curt Pires (YOUTH), along with some surprise guests, to get the scoop on the latest comiXology Originals series direct from the creators making them! They’ll intrigue you with behind-the-scenes stories about the process of bringing comics from concept to the page and what it’s like pushing the envelope with digital comics, and beyond.
For the superfan seeking even more comic book content, comiXology’s own Kiwi will host live drawing sessions on comiXology’s Twitch channel with some of the industry’s most renowned illustrators, including GLAAD Media Award-winning illustrator Tula Lotay and three-time New York Times best-selling British artist Jock. In addition to drawing sessions, Kiwi will also host an interview series with creators from comiXology’s Originals line of exclusive digital content, including Curt Pires & Dee Cunniffe (YOUTH) and the creators behind two yet to be announced original graphic novels. And if all that isn’t enough, comiXology and Eisner Award winner Chip Zdarsky will host Comic Book Movie Trivia Night on Friday, July 24 at 5:00p.m. PST on their Twitch channel.
For the schedule of live drawing sessions and creator interviews, please continue to check amazon.com/virtualcon for updates.
The 40-year-old Brazilian actress has been cast in CBS All Access’ anthology series The Twilight Zone’s second season.
Baccarin joins a cast that includes Billy Porter, Jenna Elfman, Gillian Jacobsand Chris Meloni.
Style blogger Tavi Gevinson also appears with Colman Domingo, Ethan Embry, Tony Hale, Abbie Hern, Sophia Macy, Joel McHale, Jimmi Simpson and Daniel Sunjata.
Separately, Jordan Peele, who executive produces and narrates the show, will write an episode for the second season.
The Get Out writer and director will write the episode Downtime, which features Baccarin, Domingo and Hale.
The CBS All Access series is a modern reimagining of Rod Serling’s original, which aired from 1959-64 on CBS. The first season featured actors including Ike Barinholtz, John Cho, Ginnifer Goodwin, Greg Kinnear, Kumail Nanjiani, Chris O’Dowd, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott and Alison Tolman.
The drama is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Kinberg’s Genre Films.
Monterroso Mejia is among a roster of new cast additions that includes Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Maude Apatow and Katt Williams.
