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Black Tuesday (1954).Hugo Fregonese’s best films are fueled by desperation, a clean and potent but highly flammable form of energy. Just as fight-or-flight adrenaline sharpens our senses and reflexes, his filmmaking reaches heights of rigor and intensity when his characters are in the tightest spots—locked up, on the run, or under siege. Often facing death, they are also sentenced for life to be themselves: fate in his films is not a capricious external force but an expression of character. As a pensive Jack the Ripper says in Man in the Attic (1953), “There are no criminals. There are only people doing what they must do because they are who they are.”But who was Hugo Fregonese? Watching his films, it is hard not to speculate on the link between their compulsive themes of escape and restless wandering and his own refusal or inability to settle down. Born in Argentina...

Abacus Media Rights has clinched rapid sales in more than half the world’s major territories on “Killing Escobar,” proving the enduring market appeal of one of Latin America’s most powerful IPs, Pablo Escobar – if producers find a new and unique way into his story.

In the case of “Killing Escobar,” this comes via the extraordinary true account of Scottish mercenary and ex-Sas operative Peter McAleese who was hired by the notorious Cali Cartel to recruit and lead a 12-man team of ex-special forces commandos to assassinate the world’s biggest drug baron, Pablo Escobar.

The hit is planned at the one place Escobar thinks he is safe: his Hacienda Nápoles luxury retreat near Medellín whose attractions included an African wildlife zoo and one of Al Capone’s automobiles.

Narrated by McAleese himself, and driven by cinema-standard reconstruction of the actual nerve-biting mission, “Killing Escobar” mixes a combat...

A new feature documentary has secured exclusive access to the story of Peter McAleese, the Scottish mercenary and ex-Sas operative who was hired by a Colombian drug cartel to assassinate drug baron Pablo Escobar.

Produced by Glasgow-based Two Rivers Media and Salon Pictures, the producers of David Bowie film “Stardust,” “Killing Escobar” is told in McAleese’s own words and features never-before-seen footage of his 1989 Colombian mission. The doc also reveals how McAleese’s violent upbringing in Glasgow, Sas training and experience as a mercenary in Africa led him to take on the daring — and seemingly suicidal — assignment.

Commissioned by BBC Scotland, the film is backed by fledgling distributor Abacus Media Rights, who hold international distribution rights, as well as The National Lottery through Screen Scotland. Directed by award-winning filmmaker David Whitney, the film will bow at the Glasgow Film Festival on March 7 and air on BBC Scotland later this year.

Matias Varela (Narcos) is set as a series regular opposite Travis Fimmel in Scott Free Productions’ straight-to-series sci-fi drama for TNT, which will mark Ridley Scott’s TV helming debut.

The series from writer-showrunner Aaron Guzikowski, Scott Free and Turner’s Studio T revolves around two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.

Varela will play Lucius, a loyal soldier, who is trying to make up for the perceived failings of his father, a man whose sense of kindness and mercy were his ultimate undoing. Lucius is so committed to reversing his father’s legacy, that he devotes himself to serving the very man who executed him, a man he believes may be a savior to his people.

Former “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman and “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin are among 46 people who have been arrested in a nationwide college admissions cheating scam case, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The suspects — who include actresses like Huffman and Loughlin, along with business figures such as Dragon Global CEO Robert Zangrillo– have been arrested on the charges they paid bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into top universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC, according to charging documents.

During a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Andrew Lelling, U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts, said this was the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” totaling $25 million in bribes.

The official charges were “conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.”

According to a separate affidavit, Huffman and her spouse — “Shameless” star William H. Macy, who was not identified by his...

Matias Varela and Julia Ragnarsson will star in “Blinded,” the much-anticipated Swedish thriller following a journalist on the trail of corruption in the world of high finance. Ragnarsson and Varela will take the lead roles, with the former playing the journalist Bea Farkas, who detects irregularities at a high-profile bank. Varela is Peder Rooth, the bank’s CEO.

The series is based on the books by economics journalist Carolina Neurath. Production starts later this month. Flx, which made Netflix’s first Swedish original, “Quicksand,” is producing for C More and TV4. All3Media International is also on board and handling international distribution of the series, its first move into Scandi drama. Film Capital Stockholm is a co-production partner.

Varela had a breakout role in TV4 series “New Times” before embarking on a career in film and TV that includes “Point Break” and, more recently, Netflix series “Narcos,” in which he played Jorge Salcedo.

Swedish actor Matias Varela, breakout star of Season 3 of the hit Netflix series Narcos, has signed with ICM Partners. In Narcos, Varela plays the real-life character Jorge Salcedo who was the head of security for the infamous Cali cartel. Salcedo eventually flipped, becoming a DEA informant. Varela also recurred on Showtime's The Borgias. In film, he was most recently seen opposite Michael Fassbender in Assassin's Creed, and opposite Luke Bracey and Edgar Ramirez in the…...

As season 3 of Narcos opens, the 1990s are in full swing. A salt and pepper Bill and a fresh-faced Hillary are settling into Washington and they’ve got one less narco trafficker to worry about. Pablo Escobar is dead. After 20 episodes of Wagner Moura sashaying around in badly-fitting denim jeans, Narcos’ antihero has been expended. But where to from here?

Where to? Untold levels of brilliance, that’s where. Premiering on September 1st, this new 10-episode installment of the hit Netflix show is television at its finest and it’s liberated by Escobar’s death. Shuffling around in his denim jeans and granddad jersey straining against his paunch, Moura was brilliant as the charismatic king of Medellin, but season 2 became claustrophobic and drawn out in its focus of Escobar and his capture. By comparison, season 3 is an ensemble piece that lets the audience breathe and to my mind, it’s...

“Narcos” has been renewed for two more seasons, but since Pablo Escobar’s tale has reached a grisly end, who will be the next target of the War on Drugs? We have a few ideas. We’re guessing the series’ third season will focus on Gilberto Orejuela, Escobar’s ally-turned-enemy who got revenge by taking all of his wealth after his death in exchange for shipping Escobar’s family out of Colombia. The Cali Cartel’s demise is also perfect for TV. In 2007, the La Times revealed that the cartel’s head of security, Jorge Salcedo, became an informant for...