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Chris McCarthy continues to slim down Showtime’s content pipeline.

The premium cable network has passed on four projects: the reboot of Gattaca that would have brought Homeland duo Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa back to the Paramount Global outlet as well as Seasoned, the comedy inspired by the lives of married couple Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody that had previously had a series order. Also getting the pass are two projects that had been in development — Split and Sweetness.

Sony Pictures Television, which produces Gattaca and Sweetness, plans to shop both projects.

Showtime declined to comment.

The passes come after Chris McCarthy added oversight of Showtime to his purview last year, giving him control of nearly all of Paramount Global’s linear networks including MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Network, among others. This week, Showtime programming was folded into Paramount+ in a bid to provide the streamer with the...

Showtime is not moving forward with a number of projects, including a “Gattaca” series adaptation as well as the Mandy Patinkin-led series “Seasoned.”

“Gattaca” was first reported as being in development at Showtime back in March, while “Seasoned” was ordered to series at the network in April. In addition, Showtime is also no longer moving forward on development of the projects “Split” and “Sweetness.”

All of the projects were produced by outside studios, which sources say was the reason they were scrapped. Those studios will all have the option to now shop the projects to other outlets.

This is the latest round of development cuts at Showtime and Paramount as a whole in recent months. Once Chris McCarthy added Showtime to his purview, it was reported in March that Showtime had significantly pared down its development slate. Meanwhile, it was announced earlier this week that Paramount+ was canceling and removing a number of shows,...

Showtime has scrapped a number of greenlit originals including the series remake of Gattaca from Homeland co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa and Seasoned, a comedy starring real-life husband and wife Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody.

It is also not moving forward with two development projects – Sweetness and Split. Sweetness comes from Nick Stoller and Promising Young Woman Oscar winner Emerald Fennell and is a female-driven anthology project. It comes out of Stoller’s overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, which will shop elsewhere. Not much is known about Split.

The move comes after Showtime merged with Paramount+ on the streaming side and follows the cancelation of other series ahead of their debut including Three Women, which moved to Starz, and Ripley, which moved to Netflix.

It is the latest cull as part of a cost-cutting drive across Paramount, following the move to pull a raft of series from its...

The team behind Homeland is looking to bring Gattaca to Showtime.

A series based on the 1997 movie that starred Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman is in development at the cabler, with Homeland vets Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon attached as executive producers, our sister site Variety reports. The duo co-created the project with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club), and Gansa will serve as showrunner if it moves forward.

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From Willow to Fatal Attraction, all kinds of movies are being turned into television shows on the various streaming services, and we’ve learned that “Gattaca” is next up on the menu.

THR reports that the dystopian thriller from 1997 – which received an Oscar nomination for “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” – is being turned into a series over at Showtime.

Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (“Homeland”) are teaming with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) on the series adaptation of the 1990s movie, THR notes in their report.

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman starred in the 1997 movie, which was “set in a not-too-distant future where eugenics is common and genetic discrimination is illegal.”

Andrew Niccol wrote and directed Gattaca, which also starred Jude Law. The film wasn’t a big success in theaters, grossing just $12.5 million against a $36 million budget.

As we recently learned, Showtime will soon be folded into Paramount+.

The post...

The 1997 dystopian sci-fi movie Gattaca could be in line for a television adaptation, with Homeland duo Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa developing the project for Showtime. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo is working alongside Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) on the potential reboot. Sources told the publication that Showtime boss Chris McCarthy is a big fan of the original film and sees franchise potential in the project, with the cable network set to give the series a sizable commitment. The movie was written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his directorial debut and starred Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman in the lead roles. The story is set in a future society driven by eugenics, where potential children are conceived through genetic selection. It follows Hawke’s Vincent Freeman, who struggles to overcome genetic discrimination to realize his dream of going to space. Gordon and Gansa are best known...

A “Gattaca” TV series is in the works at Showtime, according to multiple media reports.

Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are reportedly in talks to return to the network to reboot the 1997 flick after co-creating Showtime’s “Homeland,” which ran for for eight seasons and produced nearly 100 episodes.

Based off the Andrew Niccol-written and direct film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, “Gattaca” centers on a dystopian near future in which society is guided by eugenics as each potential child is planned to receive the most desirable traits of their parents.

Showtime did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

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While details regarding the series, which hails from Sony Pictures Television, are still being finalized, Gordon and Gansa are said to be set to write the series alongside Craig Borten.

As Showtime places its future on established franchises, the cable channel is going back to a classic of high school science classes. A series adaptation of 1997 film “Gattaca” is in development at the channel.

Although details on the series are being kept under wraps, the show will reportedly hail from Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, who are best known for creating the 2011 drama “Homeland” for Showtime. Gansa is attached to co-create the series with “Dallas Buyers Club” screenwriter and Oscar nominee Craig Borten, and will showrun the series. All three executive produce the series, which comes from Sony Pictures Television.

The directorial debut of Andrew Niccol, the original “Gattaca” film focuses on a near future society where eugenics-based technology is used to ensure children receive the “best” hereditary traits from their parents. Ethan Hawke starred in the film as Vincent, a man born without genetic screening who dreams of becoming...

Homeland co-creators/executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are plotting a return to Showtime with Gattaca, a series based on the 1997 movie. Details are not confirmed as deals for the project, from Sony Pictures Television, are being finalized.

Written by Gordon, Gansa and Craig Borten, the series takes place a generation after the events of the film, when science and humanity have evolved to the point where we can direct our own evolution. Genetic engineering has created a world in which parents can determine the future of their children before they are born (the Valids), which by default has created a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of one’s skin (the Invalids).

Set in the near future where corporations screen their employees based on their genetic makeup, the series centers on a man with a congenital heart condition who tries to assume the...

A series adaptation of “Gattaca” is in development at Showtime, Variety has learned from sources.

Exact plot details on the series are still under wraps, but sources say that Alex Gansa is attached to serve as showrunner and executive producer, with Gansa’s partner Howard Gordon also executive producing. They co-created the show with Craig Borten, who also executive produces. Sony Pictures Television will produce, with Gansa and Gordon currently under an overall deal at independent studio. Sources stress that deals for the project are not yet closed.

Showtime and Sony declined to comment.

This is not the first time that a series adaptation of “Gattaca” has been attempted. In 2009, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television was developing their own police procedural version of the film, though that project ultimately did not go forward.

Gansa and Gordon are best known for co-creating the hit Showtime series “Homeland,” which ran...

Homeland duo Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa may be heading back to Showtime.

The Sony Pictures TV-based duo is teaming with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) to develop an adaptation of the 1997 dystopian movie Gattaca for the premium cable network. Sources say the project is being eyed with a sizable commitment at the Paramount Global-backed cabler and marks the first new project to be developed since Chris McCarthy added oversight of Showtime to his purview.

Reps for Showtime and Sony TV declined to comment, as deals have yet to close.

The movie starred Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and was set in a not-too-distant future where eugenics is common and genetic discrimination is illegal. Andrew Niccol wrote and directed the movie, which was produced by Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher and Gail Lyon produced the pic.

Since McCarthy added Showtime to his purview, the...

Exclusive: Peter Morgan — the Academy Award-nominated producer of American Sniper formerly serving as a production exec at Katalyst Films and Gilbert Films — has announced the launch of TantrumPM, a development and production company that will look to produce uniquely accessible and important, A-list driven content.

TantrumPM is currently developing a dozen or so projects, including a reboot of the Poison Ivy franchise of erotic thrillers exec produced by Morgan. Also in the works is a film titled The War and Treaty, to be directed by Numa Perrier from a script by Oscar winner Will McCormack (Toy Story 4) and Oscar nominee Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club). Additional producers set for that project include Perrier, Gary Gilbert, John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Harvey Mason Jr.

Financing for TantrumPM was provided by angel investors including tech entrepreneur Brett Markinson, actor Skeet Ulrich, and philanthropist Sydney Holland, among others. Notables serving on its...

Exclusive: Gary Gilbert’s Gilbert Films, Mike Jackson and John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co., and Harvey Mason Jr.’s Harvey Mason Media have set director Numa Perrier to helm The War and Treaty about the Nashville husband and wife vocal duo.

Oscar-winner Will McCormack and Oscar nominee Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) are penning the screenplay which revolves around the true story of Michael, a soldier who has just returned from a tour in Iraq, who falls in love with Tanya, a singer with a deferred dream. The project was developed by and financed by Gilbert Films. Casting for the movie is underway.

The pic will be produced by Academy Award nominee Gilbert (La La Land), Legend, Jackson, Mason Jr., Peter Morgan and Perrier. EPs are War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, along with McCormack,...

Just five days after the creation of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, a lone suicide bomber drove an explosive-filled truck onto the grounds of Baghdad’s Canal Hotel, long used as the Iraq headquarters of the Un, and detonated its payload. Nearly two dozen people died in the bombing, and the lasting impact of the attack changed the course of Un diplomacy forever. It also ended the life of the beloved Un diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, who had undertaken the job in Iraq as a likely send-off to a storied career, the final stop in a life spent in service to others.

All that is not immediately clear in the opening of Greg Barker’s unfocused “Sergio,” which follows Vieira de Mello (Wagner Moura) through One moment, Sergio is screaming for help, the next, he’s back swimming in the warm waters of his native Rio. The...

If a movie about geopolitics centered around the true story of “Sergio” Vieira de Mello, a United Nations diplomat from Brazil, doesn’t strike you as must-viewing during a pandemic, you couldn’t be more wrong. What better time to celebrate a man who put human rights above politics as usual? Sergio, a Sundance sleeper debuting on Netflix on April 17th, is history brought to life, with a few extra bells, whistles, and caveats. Director Greg Barker, working from a frustratingly soft script by Craig Borten, takes dramatic license with...

There is a Robert Frost poem called “Escapist – Never” which provides a frequent refrain in Greg Barker’s deeply admiring but drawn-out biopic of Brazilian diplomat and U.N. leading light Sergio Vieira de Mello. “It is the future that creates his present,” runs the penultimate line, and the handsome, heroic, charismatic de Mello (played with persuasive charm by Wagner Moura) certainly does seem like a man whose present was shaped by the future — specifically by the better, brighter, freer global future he believed the U.N. could be instrumental in achieving and that he personally could help midwife into being.

Such noble intentions and such impact on world affairs does render understandable Barker’s rather starry-eyed approach, but in its unnecessary length and sentimental emphasis on the man’s romantic life, “Sergio” more often, intentionally and otherwise, evokes the “interminable chain of longing” of the poem’s celebrated last line.

NBC has put in development legal drama J.S.I.D. from Adam Mazer (You Don’t Know Jack), Dallas Buyers Club co-writer Craig Borten, Neal Moritz’s Original Film and Sony Pictures TV, where Original Film is under an overall deal. Written by Mazer, J.S.I.D. centers around L.A.'s elite unit of special Da's in the Justice System's Integrity Division who investigate and prosecute corrupt judges, politicians, cops, city officials and fellow lawyers. Mazer executive produces with…...

It seems that infamous drug kingpin El Chapo is just as sought after while incarcerated as he was while fleeing from justice – at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. Despite rival projects being developed at other studios, Sony Pictures has won a heated race to acquire the screen rights for a not-yet published book on the subject, and is consequently working its own movie – tentatively titled Hunting El Chapo.

In 2014, it was reported that Universal had hired Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) to adapt Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article, titled The Hunt For El Chapo. The studio had set Peter Berg (Patriots Day) to produce and direct, and it seemed like a perfect fit. Little more has been heard about that project, however, and now, it seems the window of opportunity for that movie might be rapidly closing. Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article may well...

Rachel Winter and writer Craig Borten, the Oscar-nominated producer and co-writer of the AIDS-themed Dallas Buyers Club, are reteaming to tackle another epidemic that is sweeping large areas of small-town America. The hourlong drama series project is set up at A+E Studios, the in-house production arm of A+E Networks, where Winter has a first-look deal. The untitled drama follows a family as they move to a small town in Maine where the community has been rocked by its…...

Mike Flanagan is going to become a hot director at some point, it’s just a matter of the bigger movie studios catching on. Oculus was enjoyably spooky (give or take a slightly lousy ending), his Ouija prequel was surprisingly good, and his home-invasion thriller Hush even made our list of the “Best Movies Of 2016 That We Didn’t Review.” Now, Sony has hired him to write and direct Inherit The Earth, a project with a slightly complicated history that has been in the works since 2011. Based on the Idw comic Zombies Vs. Robots, the film was originally being developed by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes, but then Sony picked up the rights and changed the name to Inherit The Earth. As of last year, Dallas Buyers Club screenwriter Craig Borten and Shrek director Andrew Adamson were working on it, but they’re apparently off the project now ...

A missed opportunity to tell what should be a captivating real-life disaster tale that is instead plodding, scattershot, and lacking in dramatic impetus. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

In 2010, as you may recall from the news, 33 men were trapped thousands of feet underground when the Chilean gold mine they were working in collapsed. They had minimal supplies, and, at first, no way of even letting those aboveground know that they were still alive. When they finally emerged 69 days later, it was the result of a global effort, and was seen on TV around the planet by more than a billion people. Basically, it’s The Martian times 33, except real. So it’s a shame that The 33 is a missed opportunity to tell what should be a...

Mountains May Depart: Riggen Reenacts Devastating Chilean Mining Collapse

Mexican director Patricia Riggen makes a curious departure with her third feature, The 33, a studio backed reenactment of the infamous Chilean mining collapse projected worldwide by the media. The world watched in eerie anticipation as thirty-three men waited patiently to be excavated from the bowels of the earth, stuck for an astounding sixty-nine days together in a mining shelter reservoir with a space allotted for thirty. It was one of the most notable world news headlines in 2010, and with all of the men eventually brought to safety in mid-October, they also provided inspiration for Halloween group themed costumes everywhere. If such a move was moderately silly (or tactless) at the time, this Hollywood treatment seems equally exploitative as it mines for thrills akin to the glut of disaster themed studio extravaganzas of the 1970s. Riggen seems committed to humanizing these...

Chicago – In the art of film, the best way to approach a based-on-truth story – where the outcome is well known – is to create a point-of-view vision for the narrative. The story of “The 33,” the trapped miners from Chile who were rescued with worldwide attention, is a prime example of that vision.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Director Patricia Riggen and the screenplay adapters – Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten and Michael Thomas – fashioned a timeline for the rescue events that added impact and interest, both down with the trapped miners and up on the surface. There are some clichés, but they exist to add to the story, and give some presence to the situation. Overall, the film is engaging, and very earnestly performed. Despite knowing the outcome, it still manages to provide a sense of what it was like, which is about as successful as this type of film can be.

At the outset in...

Chicago – When a disaster strikes, often the most unlikely people will become the primary responders. This is the premise for “The 33,” a new feature film about the Chilean mining collapse in 2010, which trapped 33 men for 69 days. The film goes deep inside the event, and is directed with due respect by Patricia Riggen.

Ms. Riggen was born in Mexico, and initially studied journalism, until completing her Masters degree in directing and screenwriting at Columbia University in New York City. While in school, she completed two short documentaries, “The Cornfield” (2002) and the film-festival-award-winning “Family Portrait” (2004). Her narrative film debut was the popular “Under the Same Moon” (2007), featuring America Ferrara. She directed “Lemonade Mouth” in 2011 for the Disney Channel, and “Girl in Progress” (2012) before landing the assignment for “The 33.”

Patricia Riggen at the 51st Chicago International Film Fesitval

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Patricia Riggen spoke with HollywoodChicago.

From Alcon Entertainment and Phoenix Pictures comes the unforgettable true story of The 33.

In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out.

A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up.

©2015 Alcon Entertainment, LLC Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

The Chilean miners – whose miraculous rescue from a collapsed mine five years ago today captivated more than a billion people around the world – reunited in Rome on Tuesday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the day they emerged from the mine.

In the Eternal City, the miners were applauded at a special anniversary screening of Alcon Entertainment’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ inspiring drama The 33, where they were joined by director Patricia Riggen and producer Mike Medavoy.

The film not only reveals the remarkable story of their survival against the odds but of the families, whose unwavering faith and support was instrumental in the rescue, and of the international team of rescuers, who would not give up until they brought the miners home.

The 33 opens nationwide in Us theaters on November 13, 2015, exactly one month after the five-year anniversary of the rescue.

On October 13, 2010, the world held its collective breath as the global media broadcast the miraculous rescue of 33 Chilean miners that had been trapped 200 stories below ground for 69 days following the disastrous collapse of a copper-gold mine in Copiapó, Chile. Spurred on by the support and faith of the miners’ families encamped outside the mine, the Chilean miners’ rescue is one of the most moving real-life events of modern times, watched by more than a billion people around the world.

On October 13, 2015, Chilean Consulates across the United States and in Canada will celebrate the five-year anniversary of this daring rescue with events, including special screenings of Alcon Entertainment’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ new film The 33.

Made with the cooperation of the real-life miners, their families and their rescuers, The 33 opens nationwide on November 13, 2015, exactly one month after the five-year anniversary of the rescue.

Patricia Riggen, director of The 33,...

As the days get darker and the cold winds of Autumn approach, it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming movies set to hit cinemas this Fall.

The huge slate includes the return of the Jedis, the rebirth of Frankenstein and a new age of Good Dinosaurs. These movies will take audiences to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, on a voyage to Mars and to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest.

Here’s our list of the 2015 Fall movies that we can’t wait to see!

September

The Visit (Sept 11)

Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip.

Warner Bros. Pictures has released the first trailer for the unforgettable true story of The 33.

In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine.

Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out.

A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up.

'Yesterday' movie: Leleti Khumalo and Lihle Mvelase. 'Yesterday' movie review: Fantastic central performance in South African AIDS drama To date, nowhere has the AIDS pandemic been felt more strongly than in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to approximately 10 percent of the world's population and two-thirds of the planet's 30-35 million AIDS cases. In the past thirty years, it is estimated that more than 20 million Sub-Saharan Africans have died from complications of the disease.* Even today, drug cocktails that are relatively accessible in other parts of the globe are still beyond the means of the vast majority of Africans. Writer-director Darrell Roodt's South African drama Yesterday is set in this catastrophic scenario. The film depicts the effects of AIDS in the life of a young Zulu woman who contracts HIV from her husband. Although Roodt's narrative maintains its focus on the plight of one particular individual, the (for non-Zulus) quirkily named Yesterday represents millions of other women,...

Sony may currently be working hard at getting the Spider-Man franchise back on its feet, but that’s not the only comic book adaptation that the studio has in the works. According to THR, Sony’s also looking to adapt a lesser-known graphic novel from Idw, titled Zombies vs. Robots.

Unfortunately, the project won’t have that awesome title, and is instead being called Inherit the Earth. Shrek 2 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe director Andrew Adamson has been attached to helm the project, while Dallas Buyers Club scribe Craig Borten will pen the screenplay.

Zombies vs. Robots, written by Ryall and Ashley Wood, tells the tale of a team of robots who must clone the last surviving human baby and protect it from intelligent zombies. It’s certainly a high-concept project if I’ve ever seen one, and a bit out of Borten’s wheelhouse,...

"Dallas Buyers Club" co-writer Craig Borten is attached to pen a re-write of Sony's sci-fi action thriller "Inherit the Earth" based on the Idw comic "Zombies vs. Robots".

Andrew Adamson is attached to direct the project which follows a team of robots who must clone a lone surviving human baby and protect it from intelligent zombies.

Oren Uziel and J.T. Petty penned previous drafts of the script. Platinum Dunes and Circle of Confusion will produce.

Source: Heat Vision...

Alcon Entertainment has inked a November 13, 2015 release date for "The 33" via Warner Bros., per the companies' longterm motion picture agreement. Oscar-nominated producer Mike Medavoy ("Black Swan"), who brought the project to Alcon, worked closely with families and rescuers to tell this 2010 story of 33 miners who were trapped half a mile underground for 69 days after the collapse of a 121-year-old copper-gold mine. Starring Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rodrigo Santoro and Juliette Binoche as one of the entombed miner's sisters, the film is entirely in English, with Chilean accents, which should secure its international appeal (while annoying others). Shot in working mines in Colombia and Chile, the film marks Patricia Riggen's feature film followup to 2007's "Under the Same Moon." "The 33" is written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten ("Dallas Buyers Club") and Michael Thomas from José Rivera's...

The La-based company has acquired North America and most international rights to the Chilean mine collapse survival story and will channel the Us release via its Warner Bros output deal on November 13.

Warner Bros will distribute The 33 across the bulk of international markets. Good Universe, whom lead producer Mike Medavoy initially hired some time ago to sell international, continues to service the closed deals.

Fox International holds Latin American rights and will kick off in Chile on August 6 to mark the fifth anniversary of the San Jose mine collapse that took place in the Atacama Desert in the north of the country.

Chinese distribution will be set by Alcon and Alan Zhang, the film’s Chinese executive producer who invested in the project.

Patricia Riggen directed the drama starring Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Mario Casas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rodrigo Santoro, Gabriel Byrne and James Brolin. The producers sought out Riggen after they saw her work on...

The La-based outfit has acquired North America and most international rights to the Chilean mine collapse survival story and will channel the Us release via its Warner Bros output deal on November 13.

Warner Bros will distribute across the bulk of international markets after lead producer Mike Medavoy concluded what he called “amicable” talks with Good Universe to take back the rights.

Fox International handles Latin America, while Chinese distribution will be set between Alcon and a Chinese party that made an investment in the project.

Patricia Riggen directed the drama starring Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Mario Casas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rodrigo Santoro, Gabriel Byrne and James Brolin.

The 33 is based on true events surrounding the 69-day ordeal of a group of mostly Chilean miners trapped more than 200 stories below ground in 100 degree heat. As the world watched, every miner was eventually rescued.

Banderas plays Mario Sepulveda, the miner who became known as ‘Super Mario’ for his...

I am happy to see more people vocalize demand for Latina representation onscreen and the resurging interest in solving this messed up disparity issue (Thank you Gina Rodriguez Golden Globes acceptance speech ). However, the representation issue I find ten times more urgent to address is the anguishing miniscule percentage of Latina Content Creators in film and television.

I give you 5 bomb Latina Directors who are are at the helm of brand new feature films coming out this year, women who are striking through the hostile mass media industry to escape the rule of homogeneity (white male perspective). Now that is something to celebrate. It’s not surprising that three of these are documentaries. The percentage of women directed films in documentaries is higher than in fiction. Now I can’t say with total certainty these 2 Latina directed U.S. fiction feature length films are the only ones out there this year…actually yes I can…..until someone reaches out to correct me ….and I really do hope to be corrected because only two???????

"Los 33"

Director : Patricia Riggen

Writers : Mikko Alanne, Michael John Bell, Craig Borten, Jose Rivera

Producers : Robert Katz, Edward McGurn, Mike Medavoy

Cinematographer : Checco Varese

Music : James Horner

U.S. Distributor : Tba

Cast : Rodrigo Santoro, Antonio Banderas, Cote de Pablo, James Brolin, Juliette Binoche, Gabriel Byrne, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kate del Castillo, Tenoch Huerta

Social Media: @The33Pelicula

Logline: Based on the incredible real-life story of the 33 survivors of a copper-gold mine in Chile that collapsed and trapping them 700 meters underground for 69 days until their rescue.

Add Riggen to the exclusive ranks of women who fought for and have proved they got the chops to direct big action, Hollywood type genre movies like Katheryn Bigelow, Mimi Leder. The trailer for Los 33 that dropped last week reveals an epic dramatization of the intensely emotional struggle to survive the Chilean mine disaster. The English language film carries a sweeping score by none other than James Horner (and naturally you can hear Violetta Parra’s classic song, Gracias Por La Vida). Add to that a big hero performance by Antonio Banderas who leads an ensemble cast of well known international actors (including hottie Mexican star of Güeros, Tenoch Huerta!!). Riggen, who was born in Guadalajara but moved to the states after graduating Columbia’s film school in NY, made a splash with her 2007 film, Under the Same Moon starring a back-then-virtually-unknown-in-the-u.S. Eugenio Derbez, and Kate del Castillo. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival then was picked up by Pantelion, the studio she later worked with on the Eva Mendes starrer Girl in Progress.

Domestic distribution and release stateside is yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile Twentieth Century Fox will be releasing the film in Chile in August, marking the fifth anniversary of the incident, before rolling out the film throughout Latin America including Mexico. For an in-depth account of Los 33, check out current best-seller, “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free” by Hector Tobar.

"Endgame"

Director: Carmen Marron

Writers : Hector Salinas, Carmen Marron

Producers : Sandra Avila, Carmen Marron

Executive Producers : Hector Salinas, Betty Sullivan

Associate Producer : Bonnie Emerson

Cinematographer: Francisco Bulgarelli

Music: Brian Standefer

Cinematographer: Francisco Bulgarelli

U.S. Distributor : Tba

Cast : Rico Rodriguez, Efren Ramirez, Justina Machado, Jon Gries

Social Media: @GoForIt_Carmen

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Logline: Shot in Brownsville and inspired by true events, Endgame is a coming-of-age story about a young boy who joins the school chess team, and with the help of his coach, embarks on a journey of self-discovery, team spirit and the importance of family.

Another talented genre director (and fellow Chicana from Chicago, Heyyy) whose tenacity and talent make her primed to be our Latina Ava Duvernay success story (of course that depends on whether the public (and gatekeepers) support her to make the change to the system to demand her spot in the national mainstream). I wrote about Carmen’s tireless spirit before , mentioning her first film which she shot, wrote, directed and produced in Chicago called Go For It (which incidentally was Gina Rodriguez’s first feature role). Her latest film is Endgame starring the precocious Manny from Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez, and Efren Ramirez from cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, Endgame is one of those irresistible competition, underdog, against-all-odds stories. Ramirez portrays the galvanizing Brownsville public elementary school teacher and chess afficionado, J.J. Guajardo, who in 1989, upon seeing his 6th grade class take an interest in his chess board, began to teach them on the regular. The class excelled and entered regional competitions, going on to enter and win state championships against schools with far more resources. Echoing the positives of disrupting a broke educational status quo with simply offering access to advanced mental cognition building tools, the film echoes another real life story and seminal Chicano film, Stand & Deliver. Big difference; that movie was not directed by a Latino/a.

The film is world premiering at the Dallas International Film Festival April 12 &13. Distribution is yet to be confirmed for theatrical/VOD but stay tuned via the Facebook page.

"No Mas Bebes"

Director: Renee Tajima-Peña

Producers : Virginia Espino

Associate Producer : Kate Trumbull-Valle

Executive Producers : Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, Judith Helfland, Sally Jo Fiefer and Sandra Pedlow

U.S. Distributor : Itvs/Latino Public Broadcasting

Cinematographer: Claudio Rocha

Music: Bronwen Jones, additional music by Quetzal

Cast : Antonia Hernandez, Gloria Molina, Dolores Madrigal, Jovita Rivera, Consuelo Hermosillo

Social Media: Facebook

Logline : An investigation of the sterilization of Mexican-American women at Los Angeles County-usc Medical Center during the 1960s and 70s

Sadly, there is an appalling history in the United States of laws and policies authorizing sterilizations of poor women without their knowledge or consent for the “benefit of society”; Buck v. Bell (low-income white women in Virginia), Relf v. Weinberger (young African-American women in Alabama), and female inmates in California. This film focuses on the case of Latinas of Mexican origin in California in Madrigal v. Quilligan . Shedding light on this horrific human rights violation, the film includes interviews with women who suffered this terrible ordeal and locked the memory away, along with former medical staff and the incredible lawyer who filed this suit forty years ago, Antonia Hernandez. A long-time coming, supremely valuable and eye opening contextualization of the Chicano rights movement from the late 60s/70s as well as the current reproductive justice movement.

So kind of cheating here, Renee is not Latina per se, but a sister in the struggle to document the Latino community. Her producer is Latina, Virginia Espino, La born-and-raised historian, plus I really want to rally support for this film because it is one of those Latina stories that really needed to be told and remembered this year which marks the 40th anniversary of the lawsuit (June 19). It is ready to be unveiled and seen by as wide an audience as possible. Stay tuned to hear when the film will have its world premiere before its broadcast in the Fall on Voces, Latino Public Broadcasting’s arts and culture series on PBS.

"Now en Español"

Director: Andrea Meller

Producers : Aaron Woolf, Andrea Meller

Music: Camara Kambon

Cinematographer: Charlie Gruet

U.S. Distributor : PBS/Latino Public Broadcasting

Cast : Marabina Jaimes, Marcela Bordes, Gabriela Lopetegui, Ivette Gonzalez, Natasha Perez

Social Media: @NowenEspanol, website

Logline: Follows the trials and triumphs of the small group of Latina actresses who dub “Desperate Housewives” into Spanish.

Currently hitting the festival circuit in such reputable festivals as Santa Barbara, Chicago Latino Film Festival, CineFestival, ahead of its showing on PBS Voces, "Now en Español" is such an effective and distinct balance of humor, seriousness and insider look by Chilean-American Andrea Meller.

Profiling Marcela Bordes, Ivette Gonzalez, Marabina Jaimes, Gabriela Lopetegui and Natasha Perez, the film is quite plainspoken and sympathetic about the struggle of the actor in Hollywood. Like the comedy fiction film (also directed by a woman!) "In a World," by Lake Bell, the film offers a rare behind the scenes and insight into the voice acting industry. Few actors make make careers out of this, others pick it up for income, but in the end it is a highly distinct skill to dub millions of shows. It’s really fascinating perspective on the representation of Latinas onscreen and off. What I love most about this film on top of it being an important tool for dialogue and change, is that the filmmaker injects a whimsy tone (apropos Wisteria Lane) which makes sparking this conversation and call to action so much more effective. You have no reason to miss this as it premieres on Friday, April 24, 2015, 10:00-11:00 p.m. (check local listings) as part of Voces, Latino Public Broadcasting’s arts and culture series on PBS. To get a taste of the ladies’ charm and humor check out the trailer:

"Ovarian Psycos"

Director: Kate Trumbull-lavalle & Joanna Sokolowski

Producers :Kate Trumbull-lavalle & Joanna Sokolowski

U.S. Distributor : Itvs (broadcast)

Cinematographer: Michael Raines

Music: Jimmy Lavalle

Cast : Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade

Social Media: Facebook

Logline: Follows the story of an all woman of color bicycle brigade, the Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade. Based in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood in Eastside Los Angeles, the Ova’s are a collective of unapologetic, politicized, young Latina women who host monthly bike rides every full moon for women and women-identified riders.

Ever since I interviewed Kate during her film’s Kickstarter , I’ve been madly anticipating this, so I’m pleased to scoop that it will be ready late Fall thanks to Itvs coming in with finishing funds. Protegees of esteemed film ladies like Renee Tajima Peña and B. Ruby Rich, the ladies have spent more than two years riding with the Ovas for this documentary. Says Joanna, “There are lots of bike groups in La, but what’s unique about the Ova’s is each ride has a sociopolitical theme and ends with a group discussion. They dialogue about everything from violence against women to the gentrification of Boyle Heights”.

The Ova’s s leadership is run by the collective who work “To Serve, not to Self Serve. Credited as founder is activist and music artist, Xela de la X who formed this rad collective in 2011 with the mission to cycle for the purpose of healing, reclaim neighborhoods, and create safer streets for women on the Eastside. Currently being edited the film should be ready for the Fall if not early next year.

In case you are wondering Trumbull-lavalle is two generations apart from family in Northern Mexico. Which I only add as proof that last names and color of skin are not indicators for knowing whether someone identifies as Latino/a or not.

Which leads me to reiterate, I really hope these 5 are not the only Latina directors with films coming out this year. Calling out an A.P.B. to Latina directors with a feature length film (fiction especially) in production or post, holler at your girl...

Syfy has announced development of what is potentially a brilliant new show, and with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) on board to write (at least the pilot) and serve as executive producer, there’s every reason to hope for the best.

The show, 51st State, is going to follow a new and greatly expanded version of an idea similar to Escape from New York, surrounding the events that follow when the U.S. buys Greenland and turns it into a penal colony. Faced with no end to the overpopulation of prisons in sight, and no other solutions to the problem, we apparently go back to an old idea.

While little is obviously known about the show, the most intriguing part of what is known is that there’s a twist (isn’t there always with Syfy?) in that apparently the prisoners are being lied to, and are thus all but...

Syfy is developing the one-hour drama series "51st State" which Fox 21 TV Studios and Chernin Entertainment will produce.

The story is set in a near future when the U.S. Government deals with its overcrowded prison problem by purchasing Greenland and converting it into a frontier prison colony with male and female convicts incarcerated together.

After promises of conditional freedom are broken, the inmates struggle to seize control and exact revenge. "Dallas Buyers Club" co-writer Craig Borten penned the show which Borten, Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope will executive produce.

Source: Deadline...

Amy Adams will play Janis Joplin in a biopic about the musician.

Jean-Marc Vallee has signed on to direct the long-gestating movie Get It While You Can, reports Deadline.

Adams has been attached to the project for several years.

Vallée's Dallas Buyers Club collaborators Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack are in talks to write the screenplay.

Vallée directed the Reese Witherspoon-starring Wild and recently wrapped Demolition with Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper.

Get It While You Can will be his next film, due to shoot in mid-2015.

Adams will be seen in the upcoming Big Eyes and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Watch a trailer for Jean-Marc Vallée's Wild below:...

After helping Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto to Oscar success with Dallas Buyers Club, director Jean-Marc Vallee is back in gong season with this year’s Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. And he’s already looking ahead to more potential awards bait, entering negotiations to direct the long-developing Janis Joplin biopic with Amy Adams in the lead.Joplin’s storied life and music career has been a fascination for filmmakers for years: at one point there were competing projects warbling their way through development. And in its time, the Joplin biopic has attracted the likes of Lee Daniels, Catherine Hardwicke and Fernando Meirelles, with Renée Zellweger seriously interested in the lead.Adams, of course, has the singing ability and has proven her acting chops, so she seems like a good fit. And this current iteration of the project boasts the potential for a reunion of the Dallas Buyers Club creative team,...

Jean-Marc Vallee ("Dallas Buyers Club," "Wild") is in talks to direct Amy Adams in the long-in-development biopic about musician Janis Joplin.

Joplin began recording songs in 1964 before breaking out three years later as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company. Dying of a drug overdose in 1970 at the age of 27, Joplin remains one of the most iconic American female recording artists of her era.

Adams has been attached to play the late singer for several years, but Vallee is freshly attached and replaces the previously rumored Lee Daniels at the helm.

Vallee is also bringing along his "Dallas Buyers Club" screenwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack to pen a new draft of Ron Terry and Theresa Kounin-Terry's script.

Nathan Ross will produce and filming begins next Summer in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Source: Variety...

The long-in-the-works Janis Joplin biopic, Get It While You Can, will begin shooting in the second half of 2015 in Los Angeles and San Francisco with Amy Adams starring as the singer. Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée is in negotiations to helm the picture, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ron Terry, who previously executive produced a TV movie about Jimi Hendrix in 2000, and Teresa Kounin Terry wrote the script; Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, who co-wrote Dallas Buyers Club together, are in negotiations to rewrite it.

Rolling Stone first reported...

The creative team behind Dallas Buyers Club is reuniting to tackle the Janis Joplin biopic. Jean-Marc Vallee is in negotiations to direct the decades-in-the-making project while Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack are in negotiations to rewrite. Amy Adams is attached to star as the hard-living queen of rock 'n' roll. Ron Terry is producing with Nathan Ross, Vallee's producing partner. This is the latest development for a biopic that has seen several directors come and go over the years. Lee Daniels boarded the project in 2012; before that, Fernando Meirelles and Catherine Hardwicke were attached as

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Today’s news isn’t exactly fresh, as Jean-Marc Vallee’s interest in helming a Janis Joplin biopic has been kicking around for some time. The Wild helmer spoke out months ago concerning the project he had assembled with Amy Adams in the lead as the infamous singer. Now, however, Deadline claims that it’s absolutely going ahead.

In the past, the untitled biopic had both Fernando Meirelles and Lee Daniels attached to direct from a script by Ron and Theresa Kounin-Terry. With Vallee the third in line to bring Adams’ long-awaited dream of portraying Joplin (she’s been involved in development for years) to the big screen, he’s bringing in familiar faces to help re-shape the existing script. Dallas Buyers Club‘s Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack will be writing a new draft. The pair will be aiming to keep the scope of the pic within the projected...

Patrick Radden Keefe's New Yorker story "The Hunt for El Chapo" is a terrifying, bizarre, and occasionally funny look at modern drug trafficking. Delving into the lavish world of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, Keefe finds a quirky character pulling strings for a murderous bunch who love their Instagram. The DEA manhunt for Loera, that ended this past February, lasted a decade. The best kingpins can live a life of luxury and still avert paramilitary. Loera was the best of the best. Those are the types that get movies made about their lives. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Universal has picked up the rights to "El Chapo," for its "Lone Survivor" director Peter Berg to helm. After that gritty military war film earned more than franchise wannabe "Battleship," the studio is in a position to let Berg do whatever the heck he wants. He’ll...

Hollywood sure loves making films based on the real life tales of America's "War on Drugs." Universal has greenlit another pic about the hunt for a notorious drug kingpin. This time, it'll be about Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who rose up the ranks to become the head of the Sinaloa cartel. They've hired Craig Borten, hot off his Academy Award nomination for last year's Dallas Buyers Club, to write the script- which will be based off of a Patrick Keefe article for the New Yorker.

The film will share that article's title, Hunt for El Chapo, and Universal has tapped Peter Berg to sit in the director's chair. Perg was recently in the news for another project, as the director is awfully busy lately. That other film I'm referring to is The Six Billion Dollar Man, which Berg will direct with Mark Wahlberg starring. The Lone Survivor director will likely bring violent grit to Guzmán's tale.

Everybody loves a good cinematic man-hunt, and that’s exactly what is on the cards now that Universal has acquired the rights to The Hunt For El Chapo – a New Yorker article written by Patrick Radden Keefe, and published in May 2014. The article looks at the capture of legendary Mexican drug cartel boss, Joaquin Guzman, and is being adapted for the screen by Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club), with Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Lone Survivor) now attached to produce and direct.

Joaquin Guzman led the Sinaloa Cartel, and consequently became the most powerful drug kingpin in 2003, when his closest rival was arrested. In 2011, he was named by Forbes Magazine as the 10th richest man in Mexico, and was listed among the most powerful people in the world, having established a drug empire with distribution cells across the Us. These dubious achievements are all the more shocking given that Guzman allegedly...

Untitled Paul Robeson Biopic

"12 Years a Slave" and "Shame" director Steve McQueen is teaming with Harry Belafonte to produce a biopic about singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson. McQueen has reportedly been keen on doing the project for years but is only now able to do so.

The project is different from the biopic that Four Stars International has been developing in recent years which had David Harewood on board at one time to play Robeson. [Source: Variety]

The Hunt for El Chapo

"Lone Survivor" director Peter Berg to has been tapped to helm "The Hunt for El Chapo," the true story tale of the capture earlier this year of notorious Sinaloa cartel head Joaquin Guzman Loera (aka. El Chapo). Craig Borten is developing the script based on Patrick Keefe's New Yorker article from earlier this year.

El Chapo rose up through the ranks of the Mexican cartels in the 1970s...

Universal has tapped Lone Survivor‘s Peter Berg to direct the true story of the capture of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the notorious and seemingly uncatchable Sinaloa cartel leader known as El Chapo. Project is being scripted by Oscar-nominated writer Craig Borten, who is developing the tale with Berg based on Patrick Keefe’s May New Yorker article The Hunt for El Chapo.

Guzmán rose up through the ranks of the Mexican cartels in the 1970s and ’80s to head the powerful Sinaloa drug empire, making his riches on the tons of cocaine he moved from Colombia into the United States. He escaped from a maximum-security prison with the help of a vast network of associates and influence; in 2011 he was ranked the 10th-richest man in Mexico, valued at $1 billion. Guzmán finally was arrested in a federal operation earlier this year that was celebrated on Twitter by Mexico’s president.

Bergalso...

Universal has picked up the rights to The Hunt for El Chapo, a New Yorker article about the capture of notorious drug cartel leader Joaquin Guzman. Peter Berg, the filmmaker who has shown an affinity for gritty worldwide-spanning action thrillers such as Lone Survivor and The Kingdom, is attached to direct and produce via his Film 44 production banner. Craig Borten, who was nominated for an Academy Award for writing The Dallas Buyers Club with Melisa Wallack, is on board to write the adaptation. Guzman was the head of the Sinaloa cartel and in the early 21st century became Mexico's

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