BTF Media to Produce Frida Kahlo Series (EXCLUSIVE)

Eduardo Franco to co-star as Argyle alongside the characters of Eleven, Mike, and Dustin.The Arizona native and Mexican descent actor is Jonathan’s new Californian friend; Franco’s character is joining the group’s journey to save the world.According to Ross Duffer, “Argyle is your quintessential ’80s stoner. Even though this is an overall darker season, there’s also comedy. There’s still fun to be had throughout the adventures this year,” the creator told Radio Times.

EXCLUSIVE: Range Media Partners has signed rising star Monica Barbaro, who is currently starring as Lt. Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace in Paramount’s massive hit sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. The follow-up to the original 1985 film has received rave reviews and a coveted A+ Cinemascore since debuting at Cinemacon and following a robust global rollout including premieres in Cannes, San Diego, London, Mexico and Japan. The film smashed Memorial Day opening records with $156m domestic and a WW cume currently over $300m.

Jodie Foster is joining the universe. HBO announced on Thursday that the acclaimed actress is set to star in the fourth season of their popular anthology crime drama. is currently in development, with Mexican filmmaker Issa López set to write, direct and executive produce.

Manori Ravindran International EditorOmar Chaparro, one of Mexico’s top talents, has signed with Authentic Talent & Literary Management.The actor, comedian, TV host and singer is looking to expand his international presence and appeal to audiences across a variety of mediums.His past credits include films such as Mexico’s fourth highest grossing film of all time, “No Manches Frida,” which was topped by its 2019 sequel, which also starred Chaparro. His other credits include “Como Caido Del Cielo,” and he also had supporting roles in English-language hits “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” and “How to Be a Latin Lover.”Chaparro’s upcoming projects include leading and producing the English-language action-comedy TV series “Coyotes M.C.” from Moxie 88; a role in the action film “Blackout” alongside Josh Duhamel and Nick Nolte; and the gritty indie thriller “The Wingwalker.” Elsewhere, Chaparro’s music profile includes summer 2021 single, “Las Locuras Mias,” featuring Joey Montana, as well his other single, “De Que Me Sirve El Cielo.” Meanwhile, on the TV front, the multi-hyphenate is the host of “¿Quien Es La Mascara?” which is Mexico’s adaptation of “The Masked Singer.”Chaparro hosted the first two seasons of the show, and will take the reins again for the upcoming fourth season.

JD Linville XYZ Films has acquired writer-director Michelle Garza Cervera’s hotly anticipated breakout feature “Huesera” for theatrical release in North America and has released the first teaser and poster for the film.“Huesera” is one of the first slate of titles under its new distribution arm and an early pick-up ahead of the Tribeca Film Festival, where the film will world premiere.The film follows Valeria, whose joy with becoming pregnant dissolves as she is cursed by a dark power. As danger surrounds her, she’s forced deeper into the occult, and a pact with a coven of witches may be her only hope.

Diego Boneta has had an incredible year. The Mexican actor is not only starring in Father of the Bride which hits HBO Max on June 16th, the actor, singer, and producer signed an overall deal with Prime Video with his production company Three Amigos. Beginning 2023, Boneta will produce and star in a full slate of shows in development while also creating movies, series, and more.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMaquinitas, a program of Latin America film market Ventana Sur, is teaming with Mexico’s Grupo Mórbido to launch Let’s Spook, a new showroom for fantasy/horror video games in development in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.The news comes as the Mórbido Film Fest has confirmed dates for this year, plus its move into the Web 3.0, NFTs and the Metaverse.For Let’s Spook, Maquinitas and Mórbido are sending out a call for applications, which will run from June 1 -Aug. 15, to video game developers and programmers from Ibero-America looking to promote and enhance their genre projects.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaScoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas are set to star in “Blood for Dust,” an upcoming action thriller that will be directed by Rod Blackhurst.Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal-weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas).

Emiliano De Pablos Paco León, one of Spain’s most prominent talents, is attached to star in thriller “Líbranos del mal” (“There Is Evil”), directed and produced by brothers José and César Esteban Alenda at their Madrid-based outfit Solita Films.Currently in development, “There Is Evil” is planned to shoot for six weeks in Madrid from January 2024.Solita Films is one of the five Spanish companies selected by Spain’s trade promotion board ICEX and its ICAA film institute to pitch their production slates at Cannes’ Producers Network, on Friday 20.In “There Is Evil,” after another girl is found dead, a former police officer decides to hunt down a child serial killer with the help of his six-year-old daughter.  “We want to make an impulsive, hypnotic thriller, but with the emotional texture of a family drama where the anguish and fear are born from perfectly real, recognizable and close circumstances,” José and César Esteban Alenda said.The Alenda brothers’ 2018 feature debut “Sin Fin” earned a Goya Award nomination for best new director, and won a Silver Biznaga at the Málaga Film Festival.A celebrated film and TV multi-hyphenate, Spain’s Paco León is well-known in Latin America, starring in Mexico’s “House of Flowers” and Colombia’s “Capital Noise.” He co-created, wrote and directed Rose d’Or winner “Arde Madrid,” one of Movistar Plus’ best reviewed series.“Rainbow,” León’s feature adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” a Netflix and Telecinco Cinema production, will be released this year on the streamer. 

Starz has given the greenlight to a new series from “Vida” creator Tanya Saracho.“Lovesong,” which is currently in development, is a half-hour drama that will follow two Mexican American childhood friends living in London as they both become entangled in a torturous love-triangle with the same captivating singer-songwriter. A love story born out of betrayal and paid for with the cost of friendship. “Steeped in the East London music scene, the series embarks on a cinematic contemplation of love, sex, identity, purpose and the price of happiness,” a description for the series reads.“This story is very much a child of the pandemic, born from those times when we were yearning for love stories to soothe the soul and light the way through the dark times.

Thania Garcia Amazon Music has officially launched its Gen Mex initiative to spotlight the growing regional Mexican genre’s evolving style and renewed popularity as it begins to reach global audiences.The regional Mexican category has historically been used as a catch-all term that spans banda, grupero, norteño and other folk formats — but as more artists begin to experiment with Mexican music in new ways, the market for it has exponentially expanded.“Música Mexicana has its own categories in not only the Latin Grammys but the mainstream Grammys, an entire radio industry built around it and is quickly outpacing reggaetón as the most-streamed genre of Spanish-language music,” Rocio Guerrero, global head of Latin at Amazon Music, tells Variety.  “At Amazon Music, música Mexicana listening has increased 140% YOY…This revolution is unstoppable and it will continue to reach new heights.”What Gen Mex aims to do, is provide a hub for the dynamic genre while “trying to find the right ways to honor its [tradition], but looking ahead and being a catalyst for its reinvention.”As a part of this catapult into the limelight, Gen Mex promises to include new Mexican music programming and editorial content in the form of Amazon Originals. The first of which comes as a collaboration with Christian Nodal who stars in a short yet cinematic introductory video for Gen Mex.

Tanya Saracho, who created the Starz series Vida which ran for three seasons, has set a new project at the streamer. Saracho is currently developing the half-hour drama Lovesong, it was announced on Thursday.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Argentina’s most bankable star, Adrian Suar, has wrapped his directorial debut “30 Noches Con Mi Ex” (“30 Nights With My Ex”) to which FilmSharks has snagged worldwide rights. The Buenos Aires-based sales and production outfit has already sold remake rights to Conchita Taboada of Spectrum Films for Mexico and to Italian producer Alessandro Usai of Colorado Films.Disney’s Star Distribution holds the theatrical distribution rights for Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, while Cinecolor snapped up rights to Peru, Chile and Colombia.

CNN has ordered a documentary about the rise and fall of mobile game show HQ Trivia and has moved Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico from its fallen streaming service CNN+ to its linear network.

Who doesn't love having a new Netflix show to get your teeth stuck into? And this week, The Lincoln Lawyer has shot straight to the top of the streaming giant's charts and got us all staying up way beyond our bedtimes as we binge.The ten part legal drama has brought the character of Michael Connelly back to our screens for the first time since the 2011 film. Starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell and Jazz Raycole, it is based on the 2008 novel The Brass Verdict and is so named because the main character, defence attorney Mickey Haller (Garcia-Rulfo), works out of a chauffeur driven Lincoln town car rather than in an office.The show is the brainchild of David E Kelly who is behind some of the biggest shows in recent years including Big Little Lies, Big Sky and Nine Perfect Strangers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNawazuddin Siddiqui, the Emmy-nominated Indian actor, is to take the lead role in U.S. indie film “Laxman Lopez.” The film is a Christmas-themed movie to be directed by Mexico’s Roberto Girault, director of local hits including 2017’s “La Leyenda Del Diamante,” 2015’s “Los Arboles Mueren de Pie” and “El Estudiante” from 2009. The project is led by New York-based Imagine Infinite Productions.

Echo,” a new MCU series starring Alaqua Cox, has begun production, Disney has announced.The series is a spinoff of last year’s Disney+ Marvel show “Hawkeye,” which featured the debut of Cox as Maya Lopez. Created by David Mack and Joe Quesada in 1999 as a supporting character for the superhero Daredevil, Maya Lopez, aka Echo, is a deaf Cheyenne woman with Olympic level athletic skills and the ability to perfectly copy people’s movement. In “Hawkeye,” the character was depicted as the leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, a gang of criminals working under Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).

The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, a series based on the book that started it all, is now streaming on Netflix. The crime drama series based on the Michael Connelly books stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller alongside Neve Campbell as Maggie, his first ex-wife, and Becki Newton, his second ex-wife Lorna.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMiguel Bernardeau, Guzmán in Netflix smash hit “Elite,” and Mexico’s Renata Notni will head the cast of “Zorro,” a reboot series from Los Angeles-based Secuoya Studios and John Gertz that will stream in exclusivity on Amazon’s Prime Video in the U.S., Latin America and Spain. The flagship series at Secuoya Studios, “Zorro,” a modern take on the hero, is directed by Javier Quintas, whose credits include episodes of “Money Heist” and “Sky Rojo,” and Miguel Angel Vivas, a director on “Locked Up” and “Unauthorized Living.” Written by Carlos Portela (“Hierro,” “Velvet Collection”), the 10 episode series is executive produced for Secuoya Studios by David Martínez, David Cotarelo and Angela Agudo.  John Gertz, founder of Zorro Productions and a producer on “The Mask of Zorro” and “The Legend of Zorro” movies titles, also executive produces along with former Sony exec Andy Kaplan at KC Global Media, Sergio Pizzolante for C&T Mobs, and Jesús Torres and Glenda Pacanins at NoStatusQuo Studios.Bernardeau will play a new version of Diego de la Vega, a landowner and, in disguise, masked hero of the people.

Britney Spears' recent nude Instagram posts have some fans concerned. Spears, 40, shared three different sets of nude photos on her Instagram account.The photos were taken in Mexico before Spears was pregnant with her first child with boyfriend Sam Asghari. Spears shares two sons with ex Kevin Federline.