Gina Rodriguez to Star in Untitled Original Comedy from Universal Pictures

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a laughing matter for Gina Rodriguez…

Universal Pictures has acquired an untitled original comedy pitch from Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham, which is will be a starring vehicle for the 34-year-old Puerto Rican actress.

The studio is keeping the film’s plot details close to the vest.

Rodriguez rose to acclaim while starring as the title character in the series Jane The Virgin, earning a Golden Globe for her performance.

Her first major studio starring role will be for Columbia Pictures in the Catherine Hardwicke-directed remake of Miss Bala, the 2011 thriller about a beauty pageant contestant who witnesses drug related murders and is conscripted to do the bidding of a drug cartel.

Rodriguez has also been generating projects as producer, wrapping Someone Great, another star vehicle. She will also lend her voice and produce the animated series Carmen Sandiego, which will be released by Netflix in January.

Rodriguez and Emily Gipson will produce for their I Can & I Will Productions.

St. Clair and Parham are the co-creators and stars of the USA comedy series Playing House. Along with scripting, they will be executive producers.

Lorenza Izzo to Star in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood”

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Lorenza Izzo is heading to Hollywood…

The 28-year-old Chilean actress and model has landed a role in the Quentin Tarantino-helmed film Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, the film visits 1969 Los Angeles, where one-time TV star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) make their way in an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The plot features multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.

The large ensemble cast also includes Margot Robbie, Timothy Olyphant, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Scoot McNairy, Keith Jefferson and Nicholas Hammond.

Tarantino,David Heyman and Shannon McIntosh are producers on the film, which is slated for release July 26.

Izzo recurs in the final season of Hulu’s Casual series and appears in Universal Pictures’ The House with a Clock in Its Walls.

William Levy Lands Series Regular Role on Fox’s Music Drama Series “Star”

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

William Levy’s star is on the rise…

The 37-year-old Cuban actor is joining the cast of Fox’s music drama series Star as a new series regular for the upcoming third season.

Levy will play Mateo Ferrera, a driven media mogul who can charm the devil into church. He is rich, successful, smooth as silk and married to his equal, Nina Ferrera, played by Camila Banus. Mateo makes and breaks his own rules as he sprints toward success. The first generation son of immigrant parents, he is determined to make his mark and build his legacy by any means necessary.

Co-created by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy, Star follows three talented singers – running from their pasts and desperate for a new start – with ambitions of stardom, as they navigate the cutthroat music business.

The large ensemble cast includes Queen Latifah, Benjamin Bratt, Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny, Brittany O’Grady, Amiyah Scott, Quincy Brown, Miss Lawrence, Michael Michele, Stephen Dorff and Luke James.

Telenovela star Levy’s Spanish-language Triunfo Del Amor was the most watched scripted series on American television. On the film side, Levy appeared in Lionsgate’s Addicted, Universal’s Term Life alongside Vince Vaughn, and most recently, Universal’s blockbuster Girls Trip.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Shape of Water” Named to Sight & Sound’s Annual Critics List of The Year’s Best Films

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro’s latest film is earning more accolades…

The 53-year-old Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist’s latest film, The Shape of Water, has earned a spot on Sight & Sound’s annual critics list of the best films of 2017.

The BFI’s international magazine polled more than 180 critics, programmers and academics from around the world to secure the results which, for the first time, include a television series in the Top 10: David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return came in 2nd.

del Toro’s critically acclaimed fantasy drama, which was awarded the Golden Lion for best film at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, comes in a No. 14, in a tie with Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country.

Written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, the film stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer, and follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who befriends a captured sea creature in 1962 Baltimore.

Get Out, from Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures, topped the list.

Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel’s Spanish-language film Zama made the Top 5.

Below are the Top 21 titles on the list.

1. Get Out, dir: Jordan Peele
2. Twin Peaks: The Return, dir: David Lynch
3. Call Me by Your Name, dir: Luca Guadagnino
4. Zama, dir: Lucrecia Martel
5. Western, dir: Valeska Grisebach
6. Faces Places, dir: Agnes Varda
7. Good Time, dirs: Ben and Josh Safdie
8. Loveless, dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev
9. Dunkirk, dir: Christopher Nolan
9. The Florida Project, dir: Sean Baker
11. A Ghost Story, dir: David Lowery
12. You Were Never Really Here, dir: Lynne Ramsay
12. BPM, dir: Robin Campillo
12. Lady Macbeth, dir: William Oldroyd
14. God’s Own Country, dir: Francis Lee
14. The Shape Of Water, dir: Guillermo del Toro
16. Let the Sunshine In, dir: Claire Denis
16. Mudbound, dir: Dee Rees
16. Strong Island, dir: Yance Ford
16. I Am Not Your Negro, dir: Raoul Peck
16. Personal Shopper, dir: Olivier Assayas

Universal Pictures to Release Tyler Posey’s Supernatural Thriller “Truth or Dare” in April 2018

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Tyler Posey is ready to play some Truth or Dare next spring…

Universal Pictures will release Blumhouse Productions’ supernatural thriller Truth or Dare, starring the 26-year-old half-Mexican American actor and Teen Wolf star, on April 27, 2018.

In the film, a harmless game of ‘Truth or Dare’ goes sideways when someone—or something—begins to punish those who tell a lie—or refuse the dare.

Truth or Dare, directed by Jeff Wadlow, also stars Lucy Hale, Violett Beane, Nolan Gerard Funk, Hayden Szeto and Sophia Taylor Ali.

Truth or Dare will go up against Lionsgate’s Traffik, Orion’s Every Day and A24’s untitled horror film.

Lucas, who played Jennifer Lopez‘s son in the romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan, plays Lucas in the film.

Luna Lauren Vélez to Star in the Latest Installment of “The Purge” Film Series

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Luna Lauren Vélez is feeling the urge to purge…

The 52-year-old Puerto Rican actress has been cast in the fourth installment of The Purge film series from Blumhouse Productions, Universal Pictures and Platinum Dunes.

Velez, best known for her role as María LaGuerta on Showtime‘s Dexter, joins a cast that includes Mo McRae, Joivan Wade, Steve Harris, Patch Darragh and Mugga.

The group joins previously announced Y’lan Noel and Lex Scott Davis for The Purge 4, which Burning Sands director Gerard McMurray is directing from a script by franchise creator James DeMonaco, who wrote and directed the previous three films.

This chapter will serve as a prequel, focusing on the events that lead up to the inaugural Purge event where, for a 12-hour period, all crime is legal.

DeMonaco is producing with Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and Sébastien K. Lemercier. The film hits theaters July 4.

Velez most recent appeared on ABC’s How To Get Away with Murder.

Patricia Velasquez to Star in the Horror Film “The Children”

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Patricia Velasquez is ready for The Children…

The 46-year-old Venezuelan actress and fashion model has signed on to the ensemble cast of New Line Cinema’s horror film The Children, joining Sean Patrick Thomas and Linda Cardellini.

Michael Chaves is directing the pic, which follows a social worker who, while investigating the mysterious disappearance of two children, discovers her own family might be in jeopardy.

The script was written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.

Velasquez played Ank Su Namun in Universal Pictures’ The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. She also appeared on the Fox comedy Arrested Development.

Eva Longoria In Talks to Star in the Feature “Dog Days”

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria could be facing some dog days…

The 42-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star is in talks to join director Ken Marino’s sophomore feature Dog Days, from LD Entertainment (Megan Leavey, Jackie).

Written by Elissa Matsueda and Erica Oyama, the film is slated to go before cameras next month.

If she signs on, Longoria would join a cast that includes Nina Dobrev, Finn Wolford and Tone Bell.

Dog Days follows a group of humans brought together by their canine pets as they work through hardships in life.

Longoria is in talks to play Grace, a loving wife and mother who can’t bear to disappoint her adopted daughter Amelia when the girl falls in love with a lost dog.

Longoria just wrapped on the MGM/Pantelion remake Overboard with Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez.

Recently, she was tapped to star in workplace comedy film 24-7, along with Kerry Washington, based on a pitch by screenwriter Sarah Rothschild, which Universal Pictures acquired. Longoria will also produce the project via her UnbeliEVAble Entertainment company.

Tilda del Toro to Star Opposite Kevin Hart in the Comedy “Night School”

Posted on September 23, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Tilda del Toro is headed to night school…

The Peruvian, Puerto Rican, and Spanish actress has been cast in Universal Pictures’ upcoming comedy, Night School, starring Kevin Hart.

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee, the film follows a group of troublemakers who are forced to attend night school in hopes that they’ll pass the GED exam to and ultimately, change their lives.

Tiffany Haddish, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Yvonne Orji and Rob Riggle co-star in the film.

It’s based on a story by Hart, who also wrote the script with Harry Ratchford, Joey Wells, Matt Kellard, and additional work by Nick Stoller.

Production is currently underway with a targeted release date for September 28, 2018.

del Toro appeared in Warner Bros.’ Our Brand Is Crisis with Sandra Bullock.

J.J. Soria to Star in Crackle’s Drama Series “The Oath”

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

J.J. Soria is taking a special oath…

The 30-year-old Mexican American actor has landed a key role opposite Ryan Kwanten and Sean Bean in Crackle’s upcoming drama series The Oath, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television.

Written and created by former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Halpin (Hawaii Five-0, Secrets & Lies), the 10-episode original series explores a world of gangs made up of those sworn to protect and defend and sheds light on corrupt and secret societies. They are nearly impossible to join — only a select few make the cut – but once inside, members will do what they must to protect one another from enemies on the outside and from within their own ranks.

Soria will play Officer Pete Ramos, partner and friend of Officer Steve Hammond (Kwanten), and second-in-command of the Ravens cop gang. Ramos is streetwise with a nervous energy and a family man who is driven by the need to prove himself worthy of his wife, who comes from wealth and privilege.

In addition to Kwanten and Bean, Soria joins previously announced cast members Cory Hardrict, Katrina Law and Arlen Escarpeta.

The premiere episode will be directed by Jeff T. Thomas.

Soria has a recurring role on TNT’s Animal Kingdom and Freeform’s The Fosters. His film credits include a starring role in Blumhouse/Universal’s The Purge: Election Year.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Universal Pictures