Zoe Saldana’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” Becoming No. 1 Worldwide Film Release of 2022

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Zoe Saldana is celebrating a special honor…

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, starring the 44-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress, has now officially crossed the $1 billion mark at the international box office with Tuesday’s grosses included.

With its $1,482.5M worldwide total through Tuesday, the epic sci-fi sequel from 20th Century Studios/Disney is next on its way to yet another milestone and will top $1.5B global when today’s numbers are factored.

In doing so, it will become the No. 1 worldwide release of 2022, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick’s $1.489B.

The overseas sum through Tuesday is $1.025B, after adding $28.3M in 52 international markets yesterday (a 44% drop from last Tuesday). WoW is the No. 1 offshore release of 2022 and No. 2 of the pandemic era.

It stands as the No. 9 international release of all time, moving up from No. 11 having just passed The Fate of the Furious and Jurassic World after 21 days in movie theaters.

Globally, it is the No. 12 biggest release ever, now overtaking Disney’s own Frozen II.

Claudio Miranda Wins Best Cinematography Award from Black Film Critics Circle

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Claudio Miranda is still flying high…

The Black Film Critics Circle has announced its award-winners of the year, with the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer earning a shout out.

Miranda earned the award for Best Cinematography for his acclaimed work on Top Gun: Maverick.

The award follows Miranda’s previous wins from the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle.

BFCC co-president Mike Sargent revealed the winners Thursday after votes were cast and tabulated in New York City at the organization’s annual meeting on December 17.

Recognizing achievements in theatrical motion pictures, the BFCC awarded prizes in 13 categories. Special Signature awards were also given to industry pioneers and rising stars, with Viola Davis winning the Pioneer Award, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul‘s Adamma Ebo winning Rising Star and Nanny director Nikyatu Jusu winning Special Mention.

Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro’s latest project picked up two awards.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio tied for Best Adapted Screenplay and won Best Animated (film).

“2022 has been a banner year for films by and starring people of color. The fact that we have films from multiple countries in multiple genres and their success has amplified a significant shift that actors like Sidney Poitier broke the doors open for many decades ago,” Sargent said. “We may have lost a giant this year in the film industry but everything he stood for and broke down barriers for has come to fruition. Our stories matter and the world is taking notice.”

Co-president Wilson Morales adds “Elvis Mitchell’s documentary Is That Black Enough For You?! ” examines the history, craft and legacy of African-American cinema and shines a spotlight on the rich history of our contributions to the medium of film. One day the time we are living in will be looked at as a new renaissance of Black film. Congratulations to all of the winners.”

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Best Film
The Woman King

Best Director
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King

Best Actor
Brendan Fraser: – The Whale

Best Actress
Danielle Deadwyler – Till

Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Original Screenplay
Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Adapted Screenplay
(Tie) The Whale and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Cinematography
Top Gun Maverick

Best Documentary
Fire of Love

Best Animated
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Foreign Film
RRR

Best Ensemble
The Woman King

SIGNATURE AWARDS

Pioneer
Viola Davis

This year’s BFCC Pioneer Award is given to Viola Davis who, to quote BFCC Member K.A. GRANT (KAGrant.com), “The Woman King was truly a labor of love for her as a producer and as an actress. Not only did she work tirelessly to bring this story to life, but she changed her physical appearance to be combat ready for the film. Her contribution is immeasurable in what she has done for black women on the big screen. Her passion, and dedication to her craft embodies the very essence of the word Pioneer.”

Rising Star
Adamma Ebo

This year’s BFCC Rising star Award for producing, writing, directing, goes to Adamma Ebo for her feature-length directorial debut for Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul to quote BFCC Member Harrison Martin (FLIXFROG), “A truly outstanding film that is well-written, acted, and directed. This is a great example of improving on a short film while keeping the same message.”

SPECIAL MENTION
Nikyatu Jusu

Special Mention this year goes to Nikyatu Jusu, for her horror film Nanny which was the first horror film to win Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize, is a deeply personal look at the American immigrant experience through the eyes of its lead character Immigrant nanny Aisha.

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2022

The Woman King
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
Everything Everywhere All At Once
RRR
Nope
Avatar: The Way of Water
Women Talking
Till
The Batman

National Board of Review Recognizes Claudio Miranda with Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Award

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Claudio Miranda is under review…

The National Board of Review has announced its 2022 film honorees, with the the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer earning a shout out.

Miranda was recognized with the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography award for his work on Top Gun: Maverick, which was Best Film.

“Top Gun: Maverick is a thrilling crowd-pleaser that is expertly crafted on every level,” said NBR President Annie Schulhof. “Tom Cruise, Joseph Kosinski and the entire filmmaking team have succeeded in making an incredibly popular film that brought audiences back to theaters, while at the same time being a full-on cinematic achievement.”

Miranda had previously picked up the Best Cinematography prize from New York Film Critics Circle.

Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985 picked up two recognitions…

The 42-year-old Argentine directors historical drama, starring Ricardo Darín, was recognized as one of the NBR Freedom of Expression Awards honorees, as well as one of the NBR’s selections for Top 5 International Films.

Here’s a look at NBR’s list of the year’s 10 best films and its other award winners:

Best Film
Top Gun: Maverick

Best Director
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Best Actor
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress
Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Original Screenplay
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell, All Quiet on the Western Front

Breakthrough Performance
Danielle Deadwyler, Till

Breakthrough Performance
Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans

Best Directorial Debut
Charlotte Wells, Aftersun

Best Animated Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Best International Film
Close

Best Documentary
Sr.

Best Ensemble
Women Talking

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

NBR Freedom of Expression Awards
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Argentina, 1985

Top Films (in alphabetical order):
Aftersun
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
RRR
Till
The Woman King
Women Talking

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Decision to Leave
EO
Saint Omer

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
All That Breathes
Descendant
Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
Wildcat

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
Armageddon Time
Emily the Criminal
The Eternal Daughter
Funny Pages
The Inspection
Living
A Love Song
Nanny
The Wonder
To Leslie

Claudio Miranda Wins Best Cinematography Prize from New York Film Critics Circle for “Top Gun: Maverick”

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Claudio Miranda is the New York critics choice.

The New York Film Critics Circle, the longest-acting film awards voting committee, has announced its 2022 winners, with the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer picking up an award.

Miranda claimed the Best Cinematography award for his work on the hit Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Miranda previously won the Academy Award in 2012 for his cinematography on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

The NYFCC is known for bestowing wins to independent films and the organization can take as long as five hours to deliberate on the day they announce wins. Whatever film the group names as Best Picture doesn’t always translate to an Oscar Best Picture win; the last title to do so was 2011’s The Artist.

“NYFCC winners reflect the broad range of our tastes, as well as what’s exciting audiences at cinemas today,” stated NYFCC Chair Jordan Hoffman. “It’s a stimulating group of movies, and our gala event in January is bound to be a memorable one.”

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is the oldest critics group in the country. The NYFCC’s membership includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and the web’s most respected online publications.

The group’s awards gala will be held in early January in New York City.

Here are all the winners of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

BEST FILM
Tár

BEST DIRECTOR
S.S. Rajamouli, RRR

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Tár

BEST ACTOR
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin and After Yang

BEST SCREENPLAY
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
EO (Poland)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Keke Palmer, Nope

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

SPECIAL AWARDS
Jake Perlin, curator, distributor and publisher in recognition of his indispensable contributions to film culture.

dGenerate Films for its invaluable work bringing independent films to China.

Jafar Panahi, for “dogged bravery as an artist, and for the humanity and beauty of a body of work created under the most oppressive circumstances.

BEST FIRST FILM
Aftersun

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS:
Undergraduate, Nico Pedrero-Setzer
Graduate, Greg Nussen

This year’s voting members include: Sam Adams (Slate), Siddhant Adlakha (freelance), Melissa Anderson (4 Columns), Michael Atkinson (freelance), Jason Bailey (Playlist), Richard Brody (New Yorker), Dwight Brown (NNPA Syndication), Kameron Austin Collins (Rolling Stone), Bilge Ebiri (New York), David Ehrlich (IndieWire), Kate Erbland (IndieWire), David Fear (Rolling Stone), Graham Fuller (freelance), Owen Gleiberman (Variety), Ed Gonzalez (Slant), Leah Greenblatt (EW), Steven D. Greydanus (National Catholic Register), Rafer Guzman (Newsday), Caryn James (BBC), Eric Kohn (IndieWire), Tomris Laffly (freelance), Richard Lawson (Vanity Fair), Violet Lucca (freelance), Soraya Nadia McDonald (Andscape), Sheila O’Malley (Rogerebert.com), Rex Reed (New York Observer), David Rooney (Hollywood Reporter), Nick Schager (Daily Beast), David Sims (The Atlantic), Kyle Smith (Wall Street Journal), Dana Stevens (Slate), Amy Taubin (Artforum), Peter Travers (ABC), Keith Uhlich (freelance), Elizabeth Weitzman (The Wrap), Stephen Whitty (freelance), Alissa Wilkinson (Vox), Alison Willmore (New York), Stephanie Zacharek (Time), and Esther Zuckerman (freelance).

Anya Taylor-Joy to Star in Skydance’s “The Gorge”

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is preparing for a Gorge-ous role…

The 26-year-old Argentine American actress will star opposite Miles Teller in Skydance’s The Gorge.

In addition, Apple Original Films has boarded the genre-bending love story.

Scott Derrickson will direct with Zach Dean penning the script, which he sold on spec to Skydance last year.

In addition to starring, Teller will serve as executive producer on the film.

Plot details are being kept under wraps other then it being described as a high-action, genre-bending love story.

The project gained some serious momentum this summer when Teller began eyeing it as his next film following the global success of his summer tentpole Top Gun: Maverick. Derrickson had been previously attached but was also weighing other projects following the success of one of the years biggest horror films The Black Phone but once Teller committed to the film, Derrickson was quick to name it his next directing job and the project was fast-tracked by Skydance.

Given Apple and Skydance’s first-look partnership, the studio looked to be in pole position to land the film and once Taylor-Joy signed on, Apple was quick to make it official.

Taylor-Joy, a SAG Award and Golden Globe winner, currently appears in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam.

The Queen’s Gambit star will next appear in the dark comedy The Menu, which also stars Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult.

She recently wrapped production on the highly-anticipated Furiosa, a spin-off film from George Miller, which is based on the character from Mad Max: Fury Road. She is also set to voice Princess Peach in Universal and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. movie.

MUBI Acquires U.S. & Canadian Distribution Rights to Monica Barbaro’s “The Cathedral”

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro is heading to the cathedral…

MUBI has picked up the U.S. and Canadian rights to Ricky D’Ambrose’s The Cathedral starring the part-Mexican American actress and Top Gun: Maverick star.

Visit Films is handling international rights and will be bringing the feature to the Marché du film in Cannes, following a deal negotiated with Ryan Kampe and Lydia Rodman of Visit on behalf of the filmmakers.

The Cathedral is a semi-autobiographical account of Notes on an Appearance director D’Ambrose’s childhood, as well as a reflection of the U.S. during a specific moment in time.

Spanning 20 years, the film is a sprawling impressionistic portrait of the Damrosch family seen through the eyes of only child, Jesse Damrosch. As the family buckles under the weight of his parents’ disintegrating marriage, Jesse comes into his own as a young man and artist.

Barbaro stars alongside Brian d’Arcy, Mark Zeisler, Geraldine Singer and William Bednar-Carter. The film is produced by Graham Swon and executive produced by David Lowery, through Swon’s production company Ravenser Odd.

D’Ambrose said: “MUBI’s history of championing filmmakers I admire greatly means The Cathedral will be in good hands, and that the film will continue exist beyond its run at festivals. ”

Danny Ramirez to Star in AMC’s “Tales of the Walking Dead”

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s all tales for Danny Ramirez…

The 29-year-old Colombian and Mexican American actor has been cast in AMC’s Tales of the Walking Dead, the network’s new spinoff series set in The Walking Dead universe.

He’s among a roster of cast newcomers for the AMC Studios-produced episodic anthology series that includes Olivia Munn, Loan Chabanol, Embeth Davidtz, Jessie T. Usher and Gage Munroe.

Each of the six one-hour standalone episodes will focus on both new and established characters set in the world of the original series. It’s set to premiere this summer on AMC and AMC+.

The series will be executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of The Walking Dead Universe, and showrunner Channing Powell, writer-producer on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.

“Olivia, Danny, Loan, Embeth, Jessie and Gage are the latest massive talents that will bring new worlds of TWD to life with big, daring, different, emotional, shocking, scary, and crazy stories. We’re excited for them to come walk with us,” said Gimple.

“Somehow we have lucked into the greatest cast — Olivia, Jessie, Embeth, Danny, Loan, Gage… We’ve been hoping these episodes will feel like unique, little films and with this range of actors, we are well on our way,” added Powell.

Ramirez was most recently seen on television in the lead role of Joaquin Torres in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. On the film side, he’ll next be seen in a starring role in Hulu suspense/thriller No Exit, produced by The Queens Gambit co-creator Scott Frank.

He also stars opposite Tom Cruise in Paramount’s upcoming Top Gun: Maverick and in Netflix’s Plus/Minus opposite Lili Reinhart.

He also just completed filming The Stars at Noon for director Clair Denis opposite Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley.

Danny Ramirez to Star in A24’s “The Stars at Noon”

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Danny Ramirez is seeing stars…

The 29-year-old Colombian and Mexican American actor has joined the cast of Claire Denis’ next film at A24, The Stars at Noon.

Ramirez will star opposite Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in the film.

Based on the novel by Denis Johnson, the story is set in 1984 during the Nicaraguan Revolution and follows a mysterious English businessman and headstrong American journalist who strike up a passionate romance. They soon become embroiled in a dangerous labyrinth of lies and conspiracies and are forced to try and escape the country, with only each other to trust and rely on.

Denis will direct and also adapted the script with Lea Mysius and Andrew Litvack. RT Features and Curiosa Films are producing the film, which was originally announced during AFM 2020.

Ramirez is fresh off the success of the Disney+ Marvel series, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, where he co-starred opposite Anthony Mackie, playing Marvel character, Joaquin Torres.

The actor will next appear opposite Tom Cruise in Paramount’s highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick.

Ramirez recently completed production on the 20th Century Studios for Hulu suspense/thriller, No Exit and also has the Netflix’s dual-timeline drama Plus/Minus opposite Lili Reinhart.

Danny Ramirez to Star in the Thriller “No Exit”

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no exit for Danny Ramirez.

The 28-year-old Colombian and Mexican American actor will star in No Exit, a thriller for 20th Century Studios.

Directed by Damien Power, the film will also star Havana Rose Liu and Dennis Haysbert.

David Rysdahl, Dale Dickey and Mila Harris are also starring in the thriller, which just wrapped production in New Zealand.

Scott Frank is producing the film that will stream in 2022 as a Disney direct-to-consumer original feature on Hulu in the U.S. and internationally on Disney+ as a Star feature.

Written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the script tells of a young woman (Liu) stuck with a group of people at a mountain rest stop during a blizzard. Things take a turn for the dangerous when the young woman discovers a kidnapped child in a car belonging to one of the people inside, setting in motion a terrifying life-or-death struggle to discover who among them is the kidnapper.

Best known for his role in The Gifted, he has also starred in the series On My Block and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He will be in the upcoming movie Top Gun: Maverick.

Netflix Acquires Skydance Television’s Global Spy Adventure Series Starring Monica Barbaro & Arnold Schwarzenegger

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Barbaro is heading to Netflix…

Skydance Television’s hour-long global spy adventure series starring the 30-year-old Latina actress and Arnold Schwarzenegger has landed at Netflix.

The project will reportedly now head into development with a script-to-series commitment.

Created by Nick Santora, the series, marking Schwarzenegger’s first major foray into scripted television, is described as a global spy adventure with a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) at the center of the story.

Santora is executive producing the untitled series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television.

Schwarzenegger executive produces the new series along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost; Carolyn Harris will oversee the project for the company.

The project was developed internally at Skydance TV and the independent studio cast the two leads before taking it out to the streaming marketplace.

The series extends Skydance TV’s relationship with Netflix where the company produces long-running hit comedy Grace and Frankie and also produced Altered Carbon.

Barbaro will next appear on film in Top Gun: Maverick.

Her previous credits include appearances on Stumptown, Splitting Up Together, The Good Cop, Lethal Weapon and Unreal.

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