Penned by David Koepp, whose writing credits include Jurassic Park, Carlito’s Way and Spider-Man, the feature centers on an agoraphobic tech worker Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz) who discovers evidence of a crime during her routine revision of sound files while working from home. After reporting to her superiors but failing to convince them to take immediate action, Angela feels forced to step out into a world of chaos as L.A. faces protest against a city ordinance that limits the movement of homeless people in an effort to contain the deadly pandemic. But in order to complete her mission, Angela must face her fear of the outdoors.

Mexican-born actors Vargas and Camil co-star alongside Kravitz and Rita Wilson, who plays Angela’s boss. Other cast members include India de Beaufort, Emily Kuroda, Byron Bowers, Derek DelGaudio, Erika Christensen, Devin Ratray, Andy Daly, Robin Givens and Charles Halford.

This is not the first time that Vargas works with Soderbergh. A native of the Mexican state of Michoacán and raised in the L.A. community of Pacoima, Vargas was featured in Traffic, the acclaimed 2000 feature about Mexico’s drug wars that won four Oscars, including one for Benicio del Toro. In the film, Vargas played the partner of Del Toro’s character.

Vargas would join Soderbergh once again two decades later in Mosaic, the 2017 HBO crime series based on the murder of Olivia Lake, a popular children’s book author and illustrator.
Vargas’ introduction to acting was a role as a breakdancer in the popular TV show Diff’rent Strokes in 1978, which led him to pursue acting. He appeared in the films Mi Vida Loca and My Family, in 1993 and 1995, respectively.

Vargas went on to star in the features Selena, Get Shorty, American Me and Next Friday. His most recent credits include FX’s crime thriller series Mayans MC and Netflix’s comedy series Mr. Iglesias.

For Camil, this will be his first collaboration with Soderbergh. He is best known playing Fernando Mendiola in the Mexican telenovela La Fea Más Bella, Mexico’s version of Ugly Betty, and Rogelio de la Vega in CW series Jane the Virgin, which earned him two Teen Choice Awards, one Imagen Award and two nominations for the Critics’ Choice Television Award.

Kimi is a co-production of New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. It is set to be released on HBO Max Feb. 10.

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Dora and The Lost City Of Gold Opens to $17M Nationwide!

Dora the Explorer as a mature teenager as played by Isabela Moner in the live-action Dora and The Lost City of Gold opened to a respectable but underperforming  $17 million box-office weekend (Aug 9-12). The good news is that the targeted U.S. Hispanic audience came out in droves for the reportedly $49M film before marketing costs. According to THR, 40% of the ticket buyers were Hispanic, 37% Caucasian and 12.3% Asian/other and 11% were African-American. I wonder where they get those figures from since I went to the theater and my ticket did not say Black or Hispanic (we will save that for another article). Half of the audience-skewed female mostly made up of parents and kids. 

 Dora, an animated character created almost twenty years ago with its worldwide brand should have brought in numbers closer to the $40M or $60M range in comparison to opening weekends for such family fare as Aladdin or The Lion King. Guillermo Del Toro’s produced Scary Stories pulled in $21M over the weekend with a lot less promotion.

 Dora tries to have it both ways trying to be an Indiana Jones and Jumanji like entertainment. The filmmakers succeeded more on the Jumanji side, over the other but completely missed the charm of the iconic Dora the Explorer character with its core worldwide audiences. Dora is perpetually a six-year-old little girl, not a teenager. 

The film is enjoyable and family-friendly and the only miscalculation, in my opinion, is that the filmmakers should have kept Dora a little six-year-old girl, not a teenager. I believe that many in the young Kiddies audiences had difficulty identifying with or accepting this almost grown-up Dora in the form of Isabela Moner.  

I do not know what led the filmmakers to chose to make Dora a teenager rather than casting a little girl that is closer to the animated character. I suspect that aging Dora up was an attempt to appeal to a broader audience while at the same time not losing the Nickelodeon cartoon’s fan base by essentially keeping her in character.  Even Eugenio Derbez who co-stars in the film as mysterious explorer Alejandro Gutierrez, in a televised interview recalled bringing his little daughter to the set during filming. She was excited about meeting Dora and being disappointed upon meeting the mature 18-year-old Moner when she was expecting to see either a cartoon character or a real live Dora in the form of a little girl.

Eva Longoria, who stars as Dora’s mother Elena, is quoted in an AP story from the films’ Los Angeles premiere, “Such a positive portrayal of a young Latina who is smart and kind and brave and fearless and speaks Spanish, is a reason to celebrate.” 

A large Latino cast in leading roles is at the forefront of a major Hollywood production, that is a rarity in today’s diverse entertainment cultural climate.

Michael Peña, who stars as Dora’s father in the film, told Variety, “ It’s a reason to do this kind of movie. Number one, it’s going to be a fun movie and people are going to like it, but number two, 24 years ago when I started acting, this would have never happened. There was no big-budget movie that I know of that any Latin person was even starring in. It’s cool that this is just kind of normal now in a way but for me, it’s especially satisfying.”

Along with Moner, Longoria, Pena, and Derbez, Dora also stars Danny Trejo as Boots, Jeff Wahlberg as Dora’s famous cousin Diego, and the voice performance of Benicio del Toro as Swiper.  Eugenio Derbez also serves as Executive Producer. 

Dora can still rake in a steady stream of box-office ticket sales as the film’s favorable buzz and social media presence builds with audiences over the final weeks of the remaining summer blockbuster playing time.

Netflix’s Gabriel Iglesias Comedy Mr. Iglesias Renewed for a Second Season

Mr. Iglesias has been renewed for a second season.  Comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias stars as a good-natured high school history teacher who tries to help the gifted misfit students at his high school Alma Mater.  The comedy show features a diverse and inclusive cast including Jacob Vargas, Sherri Shepard, Maggie Geha, Cree Cicchino, Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, Oscar Nunez, and Richard Grant.

Mr. Iglesias has been a critical hit and received a positive response from Netflix subscribers. The school featured in the series, Wilson High, is based on a real high school of the same name in Long Beach, California that Iglesias attended and graduated from in 1994.  Iglesias is currently on a nationwide comedy concert tour and has signed on to voice a leading character in the animated feature Blazing Samurai. Mr. Iglesias, created by Kevin Hench, is also co-executive produced by Luisa Leschin.

The post “Dora” Impressive Box-Office, and “Mr. Iglesias” Renewed first appeared on .

Mr. Iglesias premieres June 21, 2019

Stand-up phenom Gabriel Iglesias stars as a good-natured high school history teacher who tries to help gifted misfit kids.

Iglesias is headlining the classroom in Mr. Iglesias, an all-new Netflix Original Comedy Series filmed in Los Angeles.

Cast and Crew
Bringing their best to the set in order to deliver a funny and heartfelt TV sitcom are TV professionals, Showrunner, Kevin Hench and Executive Produced by Hench, Gabriel Iglesias, Ron DeBlasio, and Joe Meloche.

Mr. Iglesias stars Gabriel Iglesias, Sherri Shepherd, Jacob Vargas, Maggie Geha, Richard Gant, Cree Cicchino, Fabrizio Guido, Gloria Aung, Coy Stewart, Tucker Albrizzi, and Oscar Nunez.

Follow on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mriglesiasnetflix

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mriglesiasnetflix

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Netflix has been under much criticism for the recent cancelling Norman Lear’s reboot of One Day At A Time starring Justina Machado and Rita Moreno, but are now tooting their own horn with a new original sitcom, Mr. Iglesias, starring the Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias that is set to premiere on Friday, June 21, 2019.

Netflix has been on a global TV conquest adding monthly to their already massive content library with incredible original programming and the rebooting of series favorites like Tales of the City, Designated Survivor and many more. 

Stand-up comedian phenom, “Fluffy” Iglesias in recent years has experienced some painful and emotionally hard life experiences when in 2017, while on a national tour, he was forced to cancel sold-out shows. On social media (Instagram) he reached out to his fans with a heartfelt apologize, where he poured his heart out admitting some hard truths:

“…Attempting to work through my problems was not going over and I had to stop everything b4 things got worse. Failing to make better choices and never taking a break in 20 years of intense touring, has finally caught up to me. I need to get better b4 I can return to making people laugh and smile….”

Fast forward to 2019 and Netflix has been all over the media world promoting Mr. Iglesias, a sitcom about a good-natured high school history teacher who tries to help his gifted misfit kids.

And, this type of show and premise makes total sense as a Netflix social media post states that if the 42-year old Iglesias had not become a stand-up comic, he would have been a history teacher.

“So we gave him a chance to live out that alternative reality with Mr Iglesias…” the Netflix post read. 

Another Instagram from Iglesias himself confirmed:

“It’s official, Fluffy has a sitcom. #MrIglesias premiers Friday, June 21^ston @Netflix #GabrielLglesias #mriglesiasnetflix,” as he captioned the post.

Mr. Iglesias co-stars Jacob Vargas, Maggie Geha, Cree Cicchino, Richard Gant, Tucker Albrizzi, Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, Coy Stewart, and Sherri Shepherd. The show follows Gabe as he teaches gifted but misfit kids at a public high school.

Is Mr. Iglesias the current version of the ABC’s 1975 hit sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter? Well, if Fluffy’s fans are steering this TV ratings ship, Netflix can expect another hit. Plus, it is impossible not to be drawn to Iglesias warm and lovable personality. And, the dude is funny as all heck!

Iglesias is known for the stand-up films The Fluffy Movie and Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Sorry for What I Said While I was Hungry. He has also starred in the stand-up specials Hot and Fluffy, I’m Not Fat… I’m Fluffy and One Show Fits All.

Gabriel Iglesias is repped by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Arsonhouse Entertainment (management), and Marleah Leslie & Associates (Publicist).

Follow Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias on social media:

@fluffyguy (Twitter)
Gabriel Iglesias (FB)
Fuffyguy (Instagram)
Website:  https://www.fluffyguy.com

Netflix’s Mr. Iglesias premieres Friday, June 21, 2019

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