STX Entertainment Moves Up the Release of Pitbull’s “UglyDolls” to May 3

Things are about to get Ugly for Pitbull a bit earlier than expected…

STX Entertainment has moved up the release of the 37-year-old Cuban American rapper’s family animated feature UglyDolls.

Pitbull

Instead of releasing the film on May 10, STX Entertainment will now release the film on May 3.

Kelly Asbury directs the animated pic based off David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim’s plush toy line.

In addition to Pitbull, the voice cast includes Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas,Blake SheltonJanelle MonáeWanda Sykes, Emma Roberts, Gabriel Iglesias, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, Lizzo and Wang Leehom.

The film is a bid by STX to launch a potential franchise in the wake of its hit female comedy Bad Moms

Rodriguez to Direct STX Entertainment’s Animated Film “Ugly Dolls”

Things are about to get a little Ugly for Robert Rodriguez

The 48-year-old Mexican American filmmaker will direct STX Entertainment’s animated Ugly Dolls, based on the children’s toys, which the company has long planned as the film to launch its family and animation division.

Robert Rodriguez

The movie will be released on May 10, 2019.

The dolls were created by David Horvath via his company Pretty Ugly LLC and have taken off in popularity in Asia.

Rodriguez, now better known for darker films like Sin CityEl MariachiDesperadoMachete and From Dusk Till Dawn, was the creative force behind the big-screen family-friendly Spy Kids franchise 

He’s known for pushing the envelope and trying new techniques whether its the graphic novel-like animation/live-action of Sin City or the digital eye candy of Spy Kids. He also did The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3D back in 2005.

Rodriguez actually started out as a cartoonist and had a comic strip called Los Hooligans for his high school newspaper, the Daily Texan at St. Anthony’s in Austin. He also drew political cartoons and then started making short films.

Rodriguez, as previously reported, will direct 20th Century Fox’s Escape From New York, the remake of John Carpenter’s 1981 film.

García Bernal Selected as Lead in Zorro Reboot

Gael García Bernal is the ultimate swashbuckler…

The 37-year-old Mexican American actor will star as the iconic lead character in a film entitled Z, the reboot of Zorro.

Gael Garcia Bernal

Garcia Bernal will come together again with filmmaker Jonás Cuarón for the project. Set in the near future, Z re-imagines the classic legend based on the beloved masked swashbuckler.

Cuarón’s Desierto, which stars García Bernal, will be released by STX Entertainment later in the year.

The project is written and will be directed by Cuarón and is eyeing a fall start at the Pinewood Dominican Republic studios.

García Bernal, who won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in his role in the Amazon series Mozart In The Jungle, was also in The Motorcycle Diaries and Babel.

The picture is being done as a co-production between Lantica Pictures and Mark Amin’s Sobini Films.

“I have always loved Gael for this role,” said Amin, who is producing with Lantica’s Albert Martínez Martín. “Zorro is a hero who is charming, witty and clever. Gael possesses all those characteristic and he’s able to deliver them with a modern spin to introduce the Zorro character to a new audience.”

Jenner to Star Opposite Hailee Steinfeld in Coming-of-Age Comedy from STX Entertainment

Blake Jenner has landed his next project…

The 23-year-old half-Cuban American actor/singer and former Glee star will star opposite Hailee Steinfeld in STX Entertainment’s untitled coming-of-age drama film.

Blake Jenner

Formerly titled Besties, the film is a wry coming-of-age comedy about Nadine (Steinfeld) and Krista, inseparable best friends attempting to navigate high school together…until Nadine discovers her older brother and Krista have been secretly dating behind her back. They soon realize that there is a fine line between best friends and worst enemies.

Jenner will portray the older brother, a popular and handsome soccer player who is the exact opposite of Nadine. Despite the differences between the siblings, Jenner’s character is described as the one keeping the family together amid the turmoil.

Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick and Hayden Szeto also star in the film from first time writer-director Kelly Fremon.

Jenner is best known for winning the second season of Oxygen’s The Glee Project, earning him a role on Fox’s Glee.

He’ll soon appear in the films Within and Billy Boy. He also stars in Everybody Wants Some, the Richard Linklater film that Paramount Pictures will release on April 15, 2016.

Cuaron’s Spanish-Language Drama “Desierto” Lands at STX Entertainment

It looks like Jonás Cuarón latest film will make its way north of the U.S.-Mexico border…

The 34-year-old Mexican film director and screenwriter’s latest project Desierto has landed at STX Entertainment.

Jonas Cuaron

The Spanish-language film centers on a group of immigrants trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States when they encounter a man who has taken up border patrol duties in his own racist hands.

Desierto, which stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, won the Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Cuarón, the son of Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter Alfonso Cuarón, co-wrote his father’s Oscar-winning film Gravity.

STX Entertainment’s deal is for Desierto’s North American rights.