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Prison dramas are strange. It’s certainly not my go-to genre when it comes to recommending films or TV shows, and it is definitely not something I gravitate to in my free time. But if I come across one by chance, and if it’s even half-decent, I can assure you that I’ll stick with it all the way to the end. That’s how I came across masterpieces like The Great Escape, Escape from Alcatraz, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Hurricane. I watched Starred Up for Jack O’Connell, Chopper for Eric Bana, Bronson for Tom Hardy, A Prayer Before Dawn for Joe Cole, Gridiron Gang for Dwayne Johnson, The Longest Yard for Adam Sandler, and Brawl in Cell Block 99 for Vince Vaughn. Also, Chicken Run is undoubtedly up there with the greats. Now, when it comes to TV shows, I don’t show the same kind of zeal.

Edgar Nito, whose debut feature “The Gasoline Thieves’’ won the Best New Narrative Director award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, is taking his second feature, “A Fisherman’s Tale,” to world premiere at Spain’s most prominent genre festival, Sitges, and have its Mexican debut at the Morelia film fest, both in October.

Produced by Pablo Cruz and Enrique Lavigne of El Estudio, Nito’s Pirotecnia Films, L.A.-based 4 Ways Entertainment and associate produced by Grupo Morbido’s Pablo Guisa, the fantasy tale turns on a legend when nature once flourished peacefully around a lake and its islands. Men, consumed by dark desires, spread fear, hatred, and death. The fishermen speak of “La Miringua,” a vengeful mythical creature that pulls sinners into the lake’s depths, dragging them to their doom.

Co-written by Nito and Alfredo Mendoza, the film stars a solid cast led by Noé Hernández (“Miss...

Netflix Mexico has unveiled a rousing new slate in production this year that includes the series debut of Luis Estrada (“¡Que viva México!”), a new pic from Rodrigo Garcia (“Familia”), another series from hit-maker José Ignacio “Chascas” Valenzuela (“Who Killed Sara?”) and “La Reina del Sur”’s Kate del Castillo unusually toplining a comedy.

Also leading the pack is series “Gringo Hunters,” produced by Woo Films and Redrum in co-production with Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment in association with The Washington Post.

Said Francisco Ramos, VP of content for Latin America: “We begin 2024 by reaffirming our commitment to show Mexico, just as it is, on Netflix. This diverse and complex Mexico –immensely rich, sometimes contradictory, and with enormous possibilities– is what inspires, motivates and makes us always keep an eye out for the best stories, so that our offer is even more ambitious and accurate.”

“We will continue to explore...

Call it Montezuma’s revenge. Or more precisely in this case, Tlaloc’s revenge.

Amid the hype for the second season of the The Summer I Turned Pretty or feature Red, White & Royal Blue, another Amazon title has quietly been reigning over the streaming service’s top 10.

The Black Demon, a shark movie with a supernatural and Latino bent, has claimed in the number one spot on Amazon’s streaming rankings for seven consecutive days since its debut Aug. 22, beating out not just those Amazon sensations, but also major studio fare such as Universal’s Cocaine Bear and Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons, which also sit in the streamer’s daily top 10 ranking of most-watched entries in the U.S.

It’s an impressive feat, given that the film, made for under $10 million, had just a small marketing spend, though without actual viewing numbers, it’s hard to judge the...

Since his 2011 Cannes breakout “Miss Bala,” Mexican director Gerardo Naranjo has shot episodes of “Narcos” and “Fear The Walking Dead” and done two more films, “Kokoloko” and “Vienna And The Fantomes.” Up next for Naranjo? Variety reports he’ll reunite with “Narcos” star Wagner Moura for “Say Her Name,” with “Andor‘ actress Adria Arjona also starring.

Continue reading ‘Say Her Name’: ‘Andor’ Actress Adria Arjona, Wagner Moura To Star In Gerardo Naranjo’s Latest at The Playlist.

Adria Arjona and Wagner Moura will star in the feature film adaptation of Francisco Goldman’s bestselling book “Say Her Name.” The film, which will be directed by Gerardo Naranjo, will feature a script by Goldman, while Arjona and Moura will executive produce. UTA Independent Film Group is representing worldwide rights and will be launching sales at EFM.

Naranjo is best known for directing “Miss Bala,” which premiered in Cannes in 2011, and was the Mexican entry for the Oscars and Goya awards that year. He has directed episodes of acclaimed series such as “The Walking Dead” and “Narcos,” and his latest film “Kokoloko” won Best Mexican Film at Guadalajara in 2020.

Goldman is the author of six books, including the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist “Monkey Boy.” He wrote the screen adaptation for HBO’s 2020 crime documentary “The Art of Political Murder,” based on his 2007 nonfiction book by the same name. “Say Her...

Mexico’s most bankable stars, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, have teamed up with L.A. and Miami-based Exile Content to produce Travis Gutiérrez Senger’s documentary on the groundbreaking art group, “Asco: Without Permission.”

The documentary chronicles the Los Angeles based avant-garde art group Asco during the 1970s and ‘80s. Melding activism and art, they challenged Latinx representation in the art world, politics, and Hollywood through their provocative performance art, photography, video and muralism.

García Bernal and Luna will serve as executive producers with their production company La Corriente del Golfo producing alongside Los Angeles-based North of Now and Gutiérrez Senger’s Asa Nisi Masa Films, in association with Exile Content.

Asco is described to have “pioneered avant-garde tactics to respond to issues of racism, representation, and police brutality that were affecting the Chicano community in Los Angeles.”

“Where would we be without the pioneers that irrupt on a scene unsolicited,...

Shameless star Jeremy Allen White has been set to lead FX pilot The Bear.

White will play a young chef who returns to Chicago to run the family restaurant in the half-hour project, which comes from Ramy executive producer/director Christopher Storer, Hiro Murai’s (Atlanta) Super Frog, Joanna Calo (Bojack Horseman) and FX Productions.

The Disney-owned network handed the project a pilot order in March, which Storer will write, direct and exec produce with Murai, Nate Matteson and Calo. Casting was led by Jeanie & Maggie Bacharach.

The cast also features Ebon Moss-Bachrach (NOS4A2), Ayo Edebiri (Dickinson), Lionel Boyce (Loiter Squad), Abby Elliott (SNL) and Matty Matheson (Just A Dash), who is also a consulting producer.

White, who played Phillip “Lip” Gallagher in the Showtime dramedy, recently starred in Dave Franco’s feature The Rental and also starred in Amazon’s Homecoming. He is also the lead in indie...

Gerardo Naranjo’s “Kokoloko” took home the Premio Mezcal for best Mexican film at the hybrid 35th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), which wrapped Friday, Nov. 27.

The love triangle drama signals a return to the big screen for Naranjo who has spent nearly a decade after his 2011 hit “Miss Bala” directing episodes of such high-profile series as “Narcos,” “The Bridge” and “Fear the Walking Dead.”

Shot in 16 mm, Naranjo’s drama about a woman caught between two men, one a violent cousin holding her captive, first debuted at Tribeca where lead Noe Hernandez won the Best Actor prize. The Match Factory handles international sales.

Chilean film and TV writer-director-producer Andres Wood won the Best Ibero-American film prize with his political thriller “Spider,” that tracks the disparate fates of right-wing radicals in the early ‘70s, prior to the coup d’état that heralds the military regime of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Drama...

“Black Bear,” “Kokoloko,” “Night of the Kings,” “Rosa’s Wedding” and “Undine” have been selected as the competition titles for the Marimba Award at the upcoming Miami Film Festival Gems event.

The seventh annual edition of Gems will be held virtually from Oct. 8-11. The juried prize, which carries a $25,000 award, is given for a film that best exemplifies richness and resonance for cinema’s future.

“Black Bear is a U.S. film, directed by Lawrence Michael Levine and starring Aubrey Plaza, Sara Gadon and Christopher Abbot. It premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Kokoloko” (Mexico), directed by Gerardo Naranjo, received a Best Actor prize for Noé Hernández at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.

“Night of the Kings” comes from Ivory Coast, France, Canada and Senegal. Directed by Philippe Lacôte, it is the Ivory Coast’s official submission in the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category

“Rosa’s Wedding” (Spain...

We continue to inch ever nearer to movie theaters opening up their doors again in the U.S. Yet, some of us may not be ready to return to theaters even when that does happen and, even so, we've still got several weeks to kill before it's even an option. With that, we're left to stream movies at home. Fortunately, there is no shortage of options heading into the holiday weekend.

This week sees not one but two new Netflix original movies arrive. We also have a couple of war movies for those who are feeling patriotic over the Fourth of July weekend. Additionally, a classic comic book movie trilogy is now available to stream and one of the most successful musicals in recent memory has made the jump from Broadway to Disney+. Here are this week's streaming selections.

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The Match Factory, one of the world’s leading arthouse film sales companies, has revealed its slate for the Cannes Film Market, which runs June 22-26. Its lineup includes three market premieres: one new film, “Ballad for a Pierced Heart,” and two films that won jury awards at the online Tribeca Film Festival recently – “Kokoloko” and “My Wonderful Wanda.”

Following his cutting-edge “Stratos,” which played in Berlinale Competition in 2014, Yannis Economides is back with the gangster black comedy “Ballad for a Pierced Heart.” The story follows Olga, an attractive woman who decides to leave her husband, a businessman, for a nightclub owner and former pop singer. And as if this was not enough, she takes a million euros with her. While her husband becomes paranoid and vows to take revenge, the underworld in the small provincial town is in turmoil over the adulterous couple.

“Kokoloko,” directed by Mexico’s Gerardo Naranjo,...

Being with the band is in of itself a cliche yet it remains this weirdly intriguing fantasy that transitions from generation to generation. It’s a topic that dominates the narrative themes and structures of “Viena and The Fantomes.” Set in a world of pure punk rock fantasy, this all too common tale of the young roadie suddenly spirals outside of the usual safe boundaries.

The stark visual cues and entrancingly bold moments are just one of the ways writer/director Gerardo Naranjo brings the story to life.

Continue reading ‘Viena & The Fantomes’ Trailer: Dakota Fanning Stars In Gerardo Naranjo’s Rock Drama at The Playlist.

"We have to behave like a band!" Universal has released an official trailer for an indie music drama titled Viena and the Fantomes, another film from Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo (he also has Kokoloko this year). Dakota Fanning stars as the titular Viena, a young roadie who's on a journey of self-discovery and shocking survival, as she travels across America with a post-punk band called The Fantomes during the 1980s. She ends up trapped in a dangerous love triangle between a good natured roadie and an unbalanced band member. The film's cast includes Jeremy Allen White, Frank Dillane, Olivia Luccardi, Sarah Steele, Philip Ettinger, and Ryan Leboeuf, plus Caleb Landry Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jon Bernthal. Looks like this could be good, it's packed with plenty of post-punk melodrama. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Gerardo Naranjo's Viena and the Fantomes, from YouTube: Viena, a beautiful, young roadie,...

The case of Viena and the Fantomes is a mysterious one. After earning worldwide acclaim with his intense thriller Miss Bala in 2011, Gerardo Naranjo embarked on his follow-up, a music drama starring Dakota Fanning, Caleb Landry Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jon Bernthal. Shot back in early 2014, aside from a leaked trailer, there have been no updates regarding a festival premiere or release and in the meantime, the Mexican director shot an entire new film, which just premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.

Now, we’ve finally got news on Viena and the Fantomes as Universal Studios Home Entertainment have announced it is arriving digitally on June 30. The story follows Fanning as Viena, a young roadie who’s on a journey of self-discovery and shocking survival, as she travels across America with a punk band during the 1980s. Perhaps the behind-the-scenes story of this one will be more fascinating than the film itself,...

Everyone enjoys a director’s comeback movie because when they are good, they are typically great. After stumbling for a period, Paul Schrader bounced back with “First Reformed.” George Miller proved that sequels can still surpass expectations with “Mad Max: Fury Road.” And branching into television—David Lynch took a 10-year hiatus after the release of “Inland Empire” before unleashing the generation-defining genius of “Twin Peaks: The Return.” All that to say, there are some high expectations for Gerardo Naranjo’s newest film.

Continue reading ‘Kokoloko’: Gerardo Naranjo’s Feverish Follow-Up To ‘Miss Bala’ Falls Flat [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.

Love is Bolder Than Death: Naranjo Returns to his Roots with Lo-Fi Melodrama

All’s fair in guerilla love and warfare, at least from the male’s perspective in Mexican director Gerardo Naranjo’s first narrative film in nine years, Kokoloko. In essence, the film is a scrappy, roughhewn return to the filmmaker’s roots, recalling the indie formulations of both Drama/mex (2006) and I’m Gonna Explode (2008). Naranjo’s last feature, his 2011 breakout Miss Bala, was a festival circuit darling which then found him attached to a variety of high-profile Hollywood products.…...

A girl, a number of guns, also some cars: recombining knowingly archetypal elements from Gerardo Naranjo’s first two features, Drama/Mex and I’m Gonna Explode, Kokoloko is delightfully loose and unconstrained. In Oaxaca, Marisol (Alejandra Herrera) loves Mundo (Noé Hernández), much to the disapproval of her thuggish cousin Mauro (Eduardo Mendizábal), who literally picks her up and throws her in his car to separate the two. The not-quite-love-triangle unfolds in a larger, equally unsettled arena: road blockades are plotted, cartels are in orbit, and violence erupts at every level. The beachside backdrop recalls the Acapulco setting of Drama/Mex, Marisol and Mundo’s lovers-on-the-run arc I’m […]...

A girl, a number of guns, also some cars: recombining knowingly archetypal elements from Gerardo Naranjo’s first two features, Drama/Mex and I’m Gonna Explode, Kokoloko is delightfully loose and unconstrained. In Oaxaca, Marisol (Alejandra Herrera) loves Mundo (Noé Hernández), much to the disapproval of her thuggish cousin Mauro (Eduardo Mendizábal), who literally picks her up and throws her in his car to separate the two. The not-quite-love-triangle unfolds in a larger, equally unsettled arena: road blockades are plotted, cartels are in orbit, and violence erupts at every level. The beachside backdrop recalls the Acapulco setting of Drama/Mex, Marisol and Mundo’s lovers-on-the-run arc I’m […]...

“Kokoloko” is a film about frustration — it’s a woozy and violent product of the same inertia that it so viscerally portrays. Nine years ago, the gifted Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo seemed poised for a bold career on the international stage. Cartel thriller “Miss Bala” had coalesced the raw energy of the writer-director’s earlier work into a bitter lament for the collateral damage that drug wars have sown across his homeland, and Hollywood was eager to import Naranjo’s talent north of the border and sell it for spare parts.

Denied the resources to develop his own projects, Naranjo was put to work in all of the most obvious places (his recent credits include episodes of “Narcos” and “Fear the Walking Dead”). Prior to “Kokoloko,” he hadn’t made a feature since his “crossover” success in 2011, and Catherine Hardwicke’s risible 2019 remake of “Miss Bala” only added insult to injury.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe U.S. poster for Albert Serra's provocative Liberté, which will make for some very pleasant at-home viewing when it opens at Film Society of Lincoln Center's Virtual Cinema on May 1st. Read our interview with Serra here.The Venice Film Festival has announced plans to proceed with this year's festivities in September despite health concerns, and that further plans will be unveiled in May. Recommended VIEWINGThe official international trailer for Gerardo Naranjo's Oaxaca-set Kokoloko, which follows "a would-be girl soldier ready to do anything to escape reality, and her lover who would kill for her." It is Naranjo's first film since 2011's Miss Bala.Recommended READINGAbove: Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe, and Paul Schrader on the set of The Card Counter. In a new interview with Vulture, Paul Schrader shares his thoughts on the future of movies,...

"The odyssey of a Oaxacan girl..." The Match Factory has debuted the festival promo trailer for a Mexican drama titled Kokoloko, which is the latest feature from acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo. He broke out big with his film Miss Bala (which was later remade by Hollywood) but he hasn't made a film since that premiered in 2011. Now he's back with Kokoloko! Set in a tropical seaside village on the Oaxacan coast, Marisol pursues personal freedom while navigating between the two men in her life - her lover, and her violent cousin who is keeping her captive. Starring Alejandra Herrera as Marisol, along with Noé Hernández and Eduardo Mendizábal. This has that old school, grainy 16mm style to it that makes it all the more dream-like. I am looking forward to seeing what Naranjo has created for us this time. Not only a story about toxic masculinity, but a story...

The coronavirus crisis may be prompting more festivals to migrate online, but not all filmmakers are on board. Director Alex Winter pulled his documentary “Zappa,” about rock iconoclast and classical composer Frank Zappa from both SXSW and Cph:dox, rather than let the festivals stream his latest work.

“We had to stand down because we’re in the middle of sales discussions, and we can’t have the film leak,” says Winter. “Our main concern was sales. Being online with these festivals would be the equivalent of a streaming distribution deal.”

“Zappa” is the first time the “Panama Papers” director and “Bill & Ted Face The Music” actor had made a film without a distributor already in place. He saw the film festival screening as a way to create buzz and market the doc, attracting buyers and higher returns for his investors.

“Because the film was so big, and it took five years to make,...

Entering its 19th edition this year, Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film lineup, including a number of anticipated titles as well as festival favorites. World premiering at the festival is Chad Hartigan’s sci-fi romance Little Fish, Gerardo Naranjo’s Kokoloko, Eleanor Coppola’s Love is Love is Love, Michael Winterbottom’s sequel The Trip to Greece, Rodney Ascher’s A Glitch in the Matrix, Talya Lavie’s Honeymood, BenDavid Grabinski’s Happily, Bryan Bertino’s The Dark & The Wicked, plus documentaries on Stanley Kubrick, Dmx, Harry Belafonte, John Belushi, Brian Wilson, and more.

In terms of festival favorites, there’s Josephine Decker’s Shirley (our review), Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me, Gaspar Noé’s medium-length work Lux Aeterna, the St. Vincent-Carrie Brownstein collaboration The Nowhere Inn, and more. Plus, Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island will...

Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President to open festival as previously announced.

The world premieres of The Trip To Greece and a documentary about Sean Penn’s relief work in Haiti, as well as the inaugural Women at Work documentary showcase are among the line-up of 115 features announced by Tribeca Film Festival on Tuesday (3).

Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Greece reunites Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon and marks the fourth feature entry in the comedy series. It screens in Spotlight Narrative.

Don Hardy’s documentary Citizen Plus screens in Movies Plus and chronicles Penn’s activism and charitable work in the disaster-struck Caribbean island nation.

Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President to open festival as previously announced.

The world premiere of a documentary about Sean Penn’s relief work in Haiti and the inaugural Women at Work documentary showcase are among the line-up of 115 features announced by Tribeca Film Festival on Tuesday (3).

Don Hardy’s documentary Citizen Plus screens in Movies Plus and chronicles Penn’s activism and charitable work in the disaster-struck Caribbean island nation.

The Us premiere of HBO’s Toronto dark comedy pick-up Bad Education starring Hugh Jackman screens in Spotlight Narrative, the same section that will show the New York premiere of...

Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. and El Estudio, a major new independent production player in the Spanish-speaking world, are teaming to produce a Mexican version of breakout Cuban feature “Juan of the Dead,” with Emilio Portés directing.

Chronicling a U.S. zombie invasion of Mexico, the remake marks one in a strong first slate of titles from El Estudio, launched at the Berlin Festival by three of the most connected producers in the Spanish-speaking world: Ex-Canana producer-partner Pablo Cruz, “The Impossible” producer Enrique López Lavigne and former Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. head Diego Suárez Chialvo.

Based out of Mexico, Los Angeles and Madrid, El Estudio has 63 projects in development or production. El Estudio is represented by CAA. Partners on early titles include Sony Pictures Intl. Prods., Netflix, HBO, Lionsgate, Viacom Intl. Pictures, Movistar Plus and Beta Film, El Estudio told Variety, announcing some of its 2020-21 projects:

“Verguenza” stars Mexico’s...

Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie, Thomas Dekker, Vivian Chan, Barbarella Pardo, Cristina Rodlo, Sebastián Cano, Damián Alcázar, Ricardo Abarca, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Erick Delgadillo, Mikhail Plata | Written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer | Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

Miss Bala is the English language remake of the Mexican film of the same name, released in 2011, directed by Gerardo Naranjo. The 2019 remake is directed by Catherine Hardwicke and features Jane the Virgin star, Gina Rodriguez as Gloria. A character who is caught up in a deadly game between gangland Mexico and Us forces, who plant Gloria in the midst of gathering intel on the former or face prosecution in the Us by the latter. Miss Bala for the most part, is an enjoyable little action/thriller. It’s never completely riveting or mesmerising in what it offers but sticks to what it knows with Hardwicke strong behind the wheel.

Performance wise it’s a mixed bag overall.

Golden Globe® winner Gina Rodriguez takes charge in the high-octane action adventure, Miss Bala, debuting on Digital April 16 and coming to Blu-ray and DVD April 30, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Caught in the perilous world of a brutal cross-border cartel, a young woman finds powers she never knew she had as she seeks to rescue her friend. Hollywood’s newest heartthrob, Ismael Cruz-Córdova (Mary Queen of Scots), stars alongside Rodriguez as the cartel kingpin, whose growing attraction to his strong-willed female hostage raises the stakes for both as the CIA, DEA, and rival cartels close in. Rodriguez and Cruz-Córdova are joined by co-stars, Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War) and Matt Lauria (“Friday Night Lights”) in this female-driven action story directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Contrapelo).

Miss Bala on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital comes loaded with over 60 minutes of bonus material, including eight deleted and extended scenes,...

Gerardo Naranjo’s 2011 Mexican thriller Miss Bala followed the tragic story of an aspiring beauty queen who was kidnapped and coerced into service by a cartel; it was a brutal, relentless movie, one that had little time for psychological shading. In the new American remake, the ruthlessness of the original has been tempered quite a bit, replaced by a string of narrative clichés and pro forma character development. Without the unyielding forward charge of the original, however, the far-fetched story doesn’t really work. And the movie’s attempts to...

Sony’s English-language remake of the 2011 Gerardo Naranjo movie Miss Bala began previews Thursday night grossing $650,000 at 2,050 theaters in what is expected to be a low and slow Super Bowl weekend at the box office.

Miss Bala is the only wide release this weekend, expected to draw $7M-$10M in a frame where Universal/Bvi/Blumhouse’s Glass in its third weekend is expected to excel with $11.3M. Through yesterday, the M. Night Shyamalan pic counts $79.1M through two weeks, running 6% behind the director’s Split from two years ago.

While business will drop anywhere from 60%-75% from Saturday to Super Bowl Sunday for most non-family movies, the weekend has improved significantly for male-oriented pics like 2009’s Taken ($24.7M) or American Sniper, which in 2015 made $30.6M over the Big Game weekend, the pic’s sixth frame. People do go to the movies over Super Bowl weekend, and plan their moviegoing on Friday or Saturday.

Female empowerment is a complicated journey for any filmmaker to tackle because there is no one way to define or to interpret an empowered woman. When James Cameron called “Wonder Woman” an “objectified icon,” Patty Jenkins fired back by saying, “I believe women can and should be Everything, just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman.”

Jenkins was right: Empowerment isn’t about looks or physical strength; it’s about who a woman is, and who she ends up becoming. Portraying that journey, while also trying to make a film about the Latinx community (a historically overlooked demographic in Hollywood cinema), becomes an extraordinarily difficult task for director Catherine Hardwicke in “Miss Bala.” She’s game for the challenge of remaking the 2011 Mexican film but doesn’t quite get there, mostly because of the underwritten characters, and a few confusing relationships...

Gina Rodriguez has star power in spades. That megawatt smile, radiant warmth, and killer comic timing made “Jane the Virgin” one of the most infectious comedies on television. She was surprisingly understated as foil to Natalie Portman in Alex Garland’s “Annihilation,” proving she has dramatic chops. But it took a cerebral sci-fi art film to tamp down the bubbly persona that makes her such an obvious fit for comedy. She has a magnetic screen presence that could carry the kind of genuine Hollywood romantic comedy audiences are so desperate for right now.

Why, then, is Rodriguez playing a helpless human trafficking victim in a hokey crime thriller when she should be reviving the rom-com? Unfortunately for “Miss Bala,” the fact that Rodriguez is entirely miscast is the least of this movie’s problems.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, “Miss Bala” is a remake of the 2011 Mexican film of the same name.

Of course a movie like “Miss Bala” would have caught Hollywood’s attention. Launched at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, it took a completely unconventional approach to the tense, high-impact story of a Mexican beauty-pageant contestant who witnesses a terrifying public shooting, goes to the (dirty) cops to report it, and promptly gets handed over to the cartel thugs behind the attack. Instead of sensationalizing the action, director Gerardo Naranjo made it exponentially more impactful by plunging an innocent woman into this out-of-control situation, letting realistic scenes of violence play out at a distance, often in a single shot.

Now, if you want to see exactly the kind of movie “Miss Bala” seemed to be reacting against — one that transforms a victim into a kind of undercover vigilante, and surrounds her with flashy camera moves and explosive set-pieces — look no farther than Sony’s big-budget, PG-13-rated remake, directed for...

Catherine Hardwicke is back in the driver’s seat of a new film, Miss Bala, which stars Gina Rodriguez as a young Latina from Los Angeles who is accidentally thrust into the perilous world of Mexican cartels at the Us-Mexico Border. The film is a remake of the 2011 Gerardo Naranjo film of the same name. Known for Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown and, of course, the cultural phenomenon Twilight, Hardwicke is back in her element telling the story of a strong young woman navigating a dark and...

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I’m No Longer Here

Mexico City’s Fernando Frias has completed his sophomore feature Ya no estoy aqui (I’m No Longer Here), which was part of the 2014 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Produced by Gerardo Gatica and Alberto Muffelmann of Panorama Global and Gerry Kim of Ppw Films, Frias tapped Dp Damian Garcia (of Jonas Cuaron’s Desierto and Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Berlin success Museo) to lens the feature. Frias also reteams with his Rezeta (2012) editor Yibran Asuad, who has edited features for Ruizpalacios and Gerardo Naranjo. Frias’ cast includes newcomers and nonprofessionals. Frias’ 2012 debut Rezeta premiered at the 2012 Morelia Film Festival and took home the award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.…...

While 2018 was another banner year for both female filmmakers and female-centric stories (as studies continue to show that movies that put women at the center of their stories are box office gold), 2019 seems poised to only exceed steadily rising expectations for women behind the camera.

From much-hyped blockbusters, indies from rising talents, acclaimed filmmakers trying something new on the big screen, and everything in between, 2019 has a woman-directed project for every movie buff.

Keep in mind, this list only includes films that have an announced release date for 2019, and it’s safe to assume that more titles will join these ranks once the festival season kicks in. Here are the 12 of the most anticipated female-directed films that you can add to your calendar right now.

“Miss Bala,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke (February 1)

After taking a three-year break from feature filmmaking, the “Thirteen” and “Twilight” director is back behind the camera...

Mexican actress Cristina Rodlo is set as a series regular in Season 2 of AMC’s anthology series The Terror.

Season 2 is co-created by Alexander Woo (True Blood) and Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island) with Woo, who is currently under an overall deal at AMC Studios, set as showrunner. The next iteration will be set during World War II and center on an uncanny specter that menaces a Japanese-American community from its home in Southern California to the internment camps to the war in the Pacific. The 10-episode Season 2 is expected to air on AMC in 2019.

Rodlo will play Luz, a nursing student who must make some tough decisions between her personal and professional life.

The Terror season two is executive produced by Ridley Scott and is an AMC Studios production, produced by Scott Free, Emjag Productions and Entertainment 360.

Rodlo will next be seen in Miss Bala, the Catherine Hardwicke...

Gina Rodriguez’s upcoming film “Miss Bala” is being hailed as a barrier-breaking action film. That’s the glass-half-full take on things. There’s another way of looking at the story of a beauty queen trying to escape a violent drug cartel, however. When it opens Feb. 1, “Miss Bala” will represent one of the starkest reminders of the dearth of big-studio films featuring Latinos in leading roles.

In 2017, just two of the year’s top 100-grossing films featured Latino actors in lead roles, according to USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s annual report on female and minority film representation. None of last year’s top 100 films featured a Latina actress in the lead role, and nearly 65 had speaking roles for Latinas. The release of “Miss Bala” comes at a time in Hollywood when other landmark films featuring African-American and Asian-American performers such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” have dominated the box office.

This week, we got some good looks at some 2019 releases, including the English-language remake of the Mexican thriller Miss Bala and a new Don Cheadle Wall-Street-gone-wild series for Showtime; plus a peek at Nicole Kidman scuzzing herself up for the cop-on-the-edge thriller Destroyer. Ladies and gentlemen, you best-trailers-of-the-week round-up.

The Aftermath

Hamburg, Germany, 1946 — a woman (Keira Knightley) steps up off a train, awkwardly greeting her British-colonel husband (Jason Clarke) after having barely seen him during the last of the war years. She’s set to join him as her helps...

Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez stars in Miss Bala, the Catherine Hardwicke-directed English-language redo of Gerardo Naranjo’s hard-charging 2011 Spanish-language thriller. Columbia Pictures has set a February 1 release date for the film and took the wraps off the first trailer today.

Rodriguez, in the role Stephanie Sigman portrayed in the original, stars as an American recently arrived in Tijuana who is kidnapped by a cartel and drawn into the dangerous world of cross-border crime. She must use all of her cunning, inventiveness and strength she never knew she had to survive the ordeal. It’s a different kind of strength, to be sure, from what she exhibits on the CW’s flagship dramedy, but judging from this first look she is up to the task as she tightrope-walks between the gang and the feds, all with the singular goal of protecting her family.

Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer adapted the screenplay for the PG-13 pic,...

"You have to believe me - they made me do it!" Sony Pictures has unveiled the first trailer for the remake of Miss Bala, about a young beauty contest winner who is forced to work for a crime boss after she witnesses a murder. This Hollywood remake is based on Gerardo Naranjo's original 2011 film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year. This new take on Miss Bala stars Gina Rodriguez and it's entirely in English, despite still being set in/around Mexico. The full cast includes Anthony Mackie, Matt Lauria, Aislinn Derbez, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Cristina Rodlo, and Ricardo Abarca. I'm a fan of the original film, unfortunately this looks like an exaggerated, action-filled update that focuses way too much on everything Hollywood loves - beautiful women, guns, action, explosions. It looks like a really bad remake. Watch out. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Catherine Hardwicke's Miss Bala,...

Gina Rodriguez is best known for playing the title role on The CW’s “Jane the Virgin,” but she’s about to redefine her acting career with the upcoming thriller “Miss Bala.” The film is the latest from Catherine Hardwicke, famous for directing “Twilight” and whose last directorial effort was the 2015 drama “Miss You Already.” “Miss Bala” is the English-language remake of Gerardo Naranjo’s Mexican drama of the same name, which debuted at Cannes and was Mexico’s entry for the 2012 foreign language Oscar.

“Miss Bala” stars Rodriguez as a woman who is kidnapped and forced into smuggling drug money for a cartel. The title character works her way into the good graces of the cartel boss, but she ends up using her newfound mercenary skills against him and his gang. The supporting cast includes Anthony Mackie and Ismael Cruz Córdova.

“I had been dying to do action for so long,...

In today’s film news roundup, Nik Dodani makes a script deal, Sony shifts dates for “Miss Bala” and “Escape Room” and Jake Manley books two roles.

Script Deal

Nik Dodani, who stars on “Murphy Brown” and “Atypical,” will write the script for a movie version of “Blue Boy,” based on Rakesh Satyal’s coming of age story, Variety has learned exclusively.

The Lambda Literary Award-winning novel follows the transformation of Kiran Sharma, a boisterous 12-year-old boy from Cincinnati, as he attempts to go from a social outcast to local god through his school’s annual talent show. Taking place against the backdrop of the early ‘90s, Satyal’s debut novel tackles adolescence, family drama, and grade school politics from the perspective of an Indian-American pre-teen.

“Kiran Sharma is a mischievous little git who thinks he’s the center of his own ridiculous universe. I’ve never related to a character more,...

Sony would like you to know it’s committed to originality. That was the message reiterated by its executives at the studio’s CinemaCon presentation Monday night — and no one was more passionate than chairman Tom Rothman, who spoke of the studio’s “increasing dedication” and “commitment” to the concept.

However, Rothman presided over a show-and-tell that included Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly doing their “Step Brothers” schtick in “Holmes and Watson” as Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Watson (tagline: “The World’s Greatest Dicks”); “Hotel Transylvania 3,” Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween,” “Equalizer 2,” “Sicario 2,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Marvel’s “Venom,” remakes of “Superfly” and “Miss Bala,” “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” and teasing mentions of 2019 titles “Men in Black 3,” the still-untitled “Spider-Man: Homecoming” sequel, and “Jumanji 2.”

Many of these films looked appealing; the CinemaCon audience at the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum particularly responded to “Venom,” with Tom Hardy...

MGM and director Eli Roth's company CryptTV have released a new red band trailer for Death Wish, which features more than enough action and some rather gruesome deaths. The trailer is crafted in the form of a "grindhouse trailer," with Corey Burton, who provided the voiceover narration for the actual Grindhouse movie, narrating this trailer that is chocked full of action and provides a bit of a throwback to fans of the 1970s grindhouse movies and the trailers these unique movie houses would put together. While there is no actual nudity or R-rated language, there is no shortage of gunplay.

The story centers on Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) as a surgeon who only sees the aftermath of his city's violence as it's rushed into his ER, until his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home. With the police overloaded with crimes,...

After a number of prior iterations with Michael Fassbender, Charlie Hunnam, Margot Robbie, Rosamund Pike, and more attached, along with director Gerardo Naranjo, The Mountain Between Us finally went into production late last year with Hany Abu-Assad (Omar, Paradise Now) helming and Kate Winslet and Idris Elba taking the lead. Ahead of a fall release, the first trailer has now arrived for the drama following two strangers who survive a plane crash, then must survive the wilderness.

“I think optimism and hope is crucial to survive,” the director tells USA Today. “And to go on with your life even if you’ve had a lot of bad luck. So if you give (in) to the bad luck, you will die. (But) if you fight the bad luck, you have a better chance to survive and make your life better. This is very simple wisdom, yes? But still very crucial especially in these kind of days,...

This afternoon seems to be all about actresses shaking things up a bit. First there’s Claire Foy moving into the pole position to play Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl In The Spider’s Web,” now comes Gina Rodriguez taking on a gritty role in an ambitious remake.

Deadline reports that “Jane The Virgin” star has signed up to lead Catherine Hardwicke‘s remake of Gerardo Naranjo‘s “Miss Bala.” Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

Continue reading ‘Jane The Virgin’ Star Gina Rodriguez To Lead ‘Miss Bala’ Remake at The Playlist.

Meet the new voice of Carmen Sandiego.

The Golden Globe-winning actress Gina Rodriguez will be the new voice of Carmen Sandiego in an animated series that is currently in the works at Netflix, according to The Tracking Board. The series will be based on the 80s educational video game that inspired PBS’ early-to-mid 90s children’s game show, both called Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Netflix still has yet to confirm the series, but The Tracking Board has said the streaming service “has ordered 20 episodes of the series, which aims to be as educational as it is entertaining, given the title character’s globetrotting adventures.”

So far what has been said about the adaptation seems to follow in the “educational” footsteps of its 90s predecessor, so we can expect to see a modernised version of the three gumshoes tracking Carmen Sandiego’s whereabouts. However, while the location of Sandiego’s whereabouts remains unknown, one...

Author: Zehra Phelan

Twilight and Miss You Already director Catherine Hardwicke is currently in talks to take the helm on the Sony Pictures remake of the Mexican film, Miss Bala. The 2011 crime drama centred around a Beauty Pageant contestant who accidentally becomes embroiled with a vicious gang after witnessing a number of brutal murders.

Related: Catherine Hardwicke interview on Miss You Already

It has also been reported that Sony have also singled out Jane the Virgin star, Gina Rodriquez, as the frontrunner as the lead protagonist in a race against time to keep Hardwicke firmly attached to the venture. The director is also currently being linked to TriStar production The Phantom Booth meaning Sony are under pressure to secure the services of a star for Miss Bala to stop Hardwicke going elsewhere.

Back in 2011, the year in which the original was released, Miss Bala premiered at Un Certain Regard section...