Fresh News 4/1
Posted by NALIP on April 05, 2021
Read more about some of the highlights of this week's entertainment industry news!
Issa Rae Inks Eight-Figure Film and Television Deal With WarnerMedia
Courtesy of Taylor Jewell
Issa Rae continues to collaborate with WarnerMedia after signing a deal involving her film and television projects. After her success with Insecure(2016) Issa Rae’s comedy was able to broaden HBO’s audience by having a younger and more diverse cast. Issa was passionate about her project and was able to tell a story that created a massive fanbase. This new deal has put Issa Rae on the top talent list next to J.J. Abrams and Greg Berlanti.
Click here to read more about Issa Rae’s Film and Television deal with WarnerMedia.
Entertainment Executives Discuss the Post-Pandemic Future of the Industry
Courtesy of Variety
In 2020 movie theaters worldwide were ghost towns due to the indefinite closure of the entertainment industry. With an increase of individuals getting vaccinated daily and returning to the workplace the reopening of the entertainment industry is on the way. With the reopening of movie theaters at full-capacity on the horizon, top executives discuss the future of the industry post-pandemic and how COVID-19’s impact will be felt for many years later.
Click here to see the discussion about how senior entertainment executives see the future of the entertainment industry post-COVID-19.
Sister Scribes: Oscar History Could Be Made With the Screenplay Award
Courtesy of Variety
Who runs the world? Girls! This award-season there may be a historic monumental win for women, specifically in the screenplay award category at the Oscars. The two women at the forefront of this monumental moment are directors Emerald Fennell and Chloé Zhao. With Fennell’s film “Promising Young Woman” and Zhao’s “Nomadland”, the two women are expected to make Oscar’s history if they win original and adapted screenplay. The two films are both front runners for the best picture category, and it is the first time where both front runner films are directed by women. To read more about this possible future historic moment click here.
Tommy Mottola, Lex Borrero Launch Latin Content Engine Ntertain With Range Media Partners
Courtesy of Variety
Over the past six months veteran music executives Tommy Mottola and Lex Borrero have teamed up with Range Media Partners to create Ntertain. Ntertain is an upcoming cross-platform content company focused on promoting Latinx talent and storytelling. With the rise of Latinx media consumerism in global pop culture, Mottola and Borrero hope to use the platform as a place where Latinx storytellers and artists can be promoted. Read more about the future of Ntertain here.
Rita Moreno Documentary Lands At Roadside Attractions
Courtesy of Variety
If there is one thing that you should learn from Rita Moreno it is that you should just go for it. After the premier of the “Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It” at Sundance this year Roadside Attractions acquired the rights setting the documentary to debut in theaters on June 18. The film documents Moreno’s life from growing up in poverty on a farm in Puerto
Rico to become an award winning actress. Read more about the upcoming film here.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Movie ‘Being the Ricardos’ Rounds Out Cast With Tony Hale and More
Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP/Shutte
Starting production soon in Los Angeles, Amazon Studios has released more information on their film Being the Ricardos which will be directed by Aaron Sorkin. This time we get more names added to the cast of the film which already has Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem playing the famous comedic couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. One of the new names added is Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”) who has been casted to play the sitcom’s executive producer and head writer Jessurun James Oppenheimer.
Click here to read more about the cast and film.
Paramount Players Steps To ‘Quinceanerx,’ Kevin Lima-Directed Musical On A 14-Year Old Genderfluid Youth Determined To Celebrate A Rite Of Passage
Courtesy of Deadline
Paramount Pictures prevailed in an auction for Quienceanerx, an origins pitch for a musical that will be directed by Kevin Lima with Alvaro Garcia Lecuona attached to write the script. The plot of the musical revolves around a 14 year old genderfluid teenager, Xavier, who lives in a world where everyone sees them as male, has big dreams of celebrating their 15 birthday party with a traditional celebration of femininity that is a Quiceanera.
The search for the right songwriter has begun for this project about being yourself. Read more here
Eugenio Derbez Apple Series ‘Acapulco’ Adds Four to Cast, Richard Shepard to Direct Pilot
Courtesy of Damian Alcazar/Stephanie Girard/Victor Ozuna/Vince Trupsin
Eugenio Derbez’s upcoming Apple comedy, Acapulco, has added four new cast members who will star along with Derbez in this project with Richard Shepard set to direct the pilot. Enrique Arrizon, Damian Alcázar, Camila Perez, and Raphael Alejandro are the new confirmed cast members of this show set in 1984 with Derbez narrating and playing the present-day version of the main character. Austin Winsberg, Eduardo Cisernos, and Jason Shuman created the series and will also serve as executive producers. Read more on Variety.
Hemisphere Buys Out Lionsgate’s Stake in Pantaya Hispanic Streaming Service for $124 Million
Courtesy of Pantaya
Hemisphere Media Group is acquiring the remaining 75% stake of Pantaya from Lionsgate for about $124 million in cash. Pantaya is the U.S Hispanic streaming service that launched in 2017 and has currently 900,000 paid subscribers. Previously, Hemisphere owned 25% of Pantaya. It expects the platform to grow to 2.5 to 3 million subscribers by the end of 2025. Read more here
‘Transformers’: Anthony Ramos Eyed To Star In Next Installment For Paramount, eOne And Hasbro Franchise
Courtesy of Deadline
Following news that the studio was already in development on a separate Transformers movie from Charm City Kings Angel Manuel Soto, its other film looks to have found its lead. Anthony Ramos is in final negotiations to star in a Transformers movie for Paramount, eOne, and Hasbro that has Steven Caple Jr. is directing. Read more here.
Disney’s ‘Stargirl’ Sequel Adds Al Madrigal, Sarayu Blue, Chris Williams & Nija Okoro
Courtesy of Deadline
The Julia Hart-directedDisney feature sequel to Stargirl continues to expand its cast with comedianAl Madrigal,Sarayu Blue,Chris Williams,andNija Okorojoining. The four new actors join a cast that includes Uma Thurman (Roxanne Martell, a musician who Stargirl idolizes), Judy Greer (Stargirl’s mom), Judd Hirsch (Stargirl’s neighbor Mr. Mitchell), Elijah Richardson (Stargirl’s beau Evan), and Tyrel Jackson Williams (Terrell, Evan’s older brother). Learn more about Stargirl cast here.
Ana Isabelle Joins The Cast Of Roselyn Sanchez’s Debut Feature ‘Diario: Mujer Y Cafe’
Courtesy of Deadline
Ana Isabelle has joined the cast of Roselyn Sanchez’s debut feature, Diario: Mujer y Cafe, which is set to start production this summer in Puerto Rico. Isabelle will play Soledad Vega, a free-spirited and charismatic yoga studio owner who is full of surprises and lives an uncompromising life. Read more here
Edgar Ramirez Joins ‘Borderlands’ Movie as Atlas
Photograph by John Russo/Courtesy of Variety
Actor Edgar Ramirez has been cast as the character Atlas in Borderlands, big-screen adaptation of the popular video game. Ramirez joins an A-list cast alongside Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black. His character, Atlas, is a business titan and arms manufacturer who is considered the most powerful character in the universe. Up next, Ramirez will star in Disney's Jungle Cruise and Universal’s The 355.
Read more on Variety