2008
Buyers are hovering over The Argentine and Guerrilla,
though the completed films are still unseen. However,
distributors were regaled with an impressive 10 minutes
of excerpts, mainly from The Argentine, at Berlin.
With a reported $150 million in production and
acquisition funding from financing and investment
company Continental Entertainment Capitol,
a subsidiary of the U.S. CitiGroup,
French production, distribution and
foreign sales company Wild Bunch
put up 75% of the $61.5 million budget for the two films.
Spain's Telecinco/Moreno Films supplied the rest.
The Argentine and Guerrilla have pre-sold
many major territories, which was a case of distributors
meeting substantial asking prices: among deals that
have gone down are France (Warner Bros.),
the U.K. (Optimum), Scandinavia (Scanbox),
Italy (Bim Distribuzione, Wild Bunch's Italo distrib partner)
and Japan (Nikkatsu).
Sun Distribution Co. has Latin America;
Spanish rights lie with co-producer Telecinco.
Fox is said to have bought Spanish theatrical
and vid rights, which would give it a possible
leg-up in negotiating a North American deal.
At Berlin Wild Bunch was asking $10 million
to $20 million for the U.S. Studio specialty
distribs and the Weinstein Co. have been trying
to land an early screening, to no avail.
Warner Bros. denies that it is in the hunt for the picture.
(Source: Variety)
May 15, 2008
Benicio is going to take a break for two days
from shooting The Wolfman, in London, to attend
the premiere of The Argentine and Guerrilla next
Wednesday, May 21st, at the Cannes Film Festival.
The production of The Wolfman gave him those days off
to attend the event, because he stars in both films,
and also because he is one of the producers.
(Source: El Vocero)
May 14, 2008
The Argentine and Guerrilla will also be screened
on Thursday May 22, 2008 at 1:15 PM, at the
Cannes Film Festival's Salle Du Soixantième theater.
(Source: FestivalCannes.fr)
May 14, 2008
Here's an excerpt from an interview
with actor Óscar Jaenada about his
work in The Argentine and Guerrilla:
What character do you portray in this film?
I portray David Adriazola, aka Darío,
one of the guerrillas who accompanied
Che Guevara in Bolivia in the fight,
and one of the five who survived when
he was taken prisoner by the Bolivian army
and then killed in 1967. Two years later,
Darío would be killed by police in La Paz.
It is a character who is in almost the entire film,
but my speeches are very sporadic.
Was filmed in English?
It was filmed almost entirely in Spanish,
respecting the Cuban, Argentinean and
Bolivian accents. Soderbergh wanted it
as close to the true story as possible and
the actors to speak as the characters really
spoke like, respecting their respective accents.
Benicio del Toro, who is of Puerto Rican origin,
worked hard on his diction, because Che spoke
more with a Cuban accent than an Argentinean one.
(Source: LaVanguardia.es)
May 14, 2008
Italian designer Alberta Ferretti will be hosting a sunset
cocktail party aboard her Prometej yacht in honor of both
Benicio and the film Guerrilla, next May 20th.
Julia Ormond, Franka Potente,
Catalina Sandino Moreno and
Laura Bickford will attend the event.
(Source: Fashion Week Daily)
May 13, 2008
A few updates about the cast of The Argentine and Guerrilla:
The role of René Barrientos went to Joaquim de Almeida,
and the role of Ciro Algarañaz went to Eduard Fernández,
who was first chosen for the role of Barrientos.
Joaquim de Almeida
* * *
Eduard Fernández
* * *
Othello Rensoli will play the role of Harry "Pombo" Villegas.
Othello Rensoli
* * *
Rodrigo Santoro will play the role of Raúl Castro.
Rodrigo Santoro
(Source: Terra.com.br)
* * *
Alfredo De Quesada will play the role of Israel Pardo.
Alfredo De Quesada
(Source: Newsblaze.com)
* * *
Jorge Alberti will play the role of the Cuban soldier "Hector".
Jorge Alberti
(Source: Soitu.es)
* * *
Santiago Cabrera will play the role of Camilo Cienfuegos.
Santiago Cabrera
May 13, 2008
As The Wolfman is scheduled to be released in 2009,
Universal Studios Consumer Products Group said that it
will develop a targeted specialty program to support the film,
with a primary focus on the collectibles market.
Cindy Chang, Vice President of global business development
for the Universal Studios Consumer Products Group, said
in a statement Monday "The Wolfman's timeless appeal
and worldwide popularity will translate into a revered and
much sought-after collector program."
(Source: United Press International)
May 12, 2008
Here's a black and white still of Steven Soderbergh
on the replica of the "Granma", from the film The Argentine.
(Source: WildBunch.biz)
May 12, 2008
Below is the first concept poster for The Wolfman
(from the time when the film was scheduled
for a February 13, 2009 release.)
(Source: MoviePosterDB.com)
May 11, 2008
Two more production stills from Guerrilla:
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)
(Source: WildBunch.biz)
May 11, 2008
In the production notes of The Argentine and Guerrilla,
Benicio said the following about playing Che:
"The process of playing Che was very different for me
than other movies I have made. In this case, as a real person,
you start with the man himself and what he wrote.
This led us to seven years of research into what
other people wrote about him. Even so, I always
returned to what he had written himself."
For more on the production notes of
The Argentine and Guerrilla, click on the photo below:
(Source: FestivalCannes.fr)
May 10, 2008
The Argentine and Guerrilla will be screened at the
Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 6:30 PM.
(Source: FestivalCannes.fr)
May 9, 2008
The running time of "Che" for the Cannes Film Festival
has been officially announced: 4 hours 28 minutes, namely:
The Argentine: 2 hours 10 minutes
Guerrilla: 2 hours 18 minutes
May 8, 2008
Here's the first round of official production stills
for The Argentine and Guerrilla:
(Source: dvdrama.com)
May 7, 2008
The Wolfman is currently being filmed at the Richmond Theatre,
on the Green, Richmond, Surrey, London.
May 7, 2008
Steven Soderbergh will screen
The Argentine and Guerrilla as a single entry
at the Cannes Film festival.
The Argentine focuses on the Cuban revolution, from
the moment Fidel Castro, Ernesto "Che" Guevara and
other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island,
until they toppled the dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista two years later.
The second movie, Guerrilla, will focus on the years
following the Cuban revolution, beginning with Che's trip
to the UN headquarters in New York in 1964, until his death
in the Bolivian mountains in 1967. Both films will take over
four hours to screen in their conjoined version.
(Source: Topnews.in)
May 6, 2008
A photograph of Benicio taken in 2002 by
Sam Taylor-Wood is part of an exhibition at the
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Cleveland.
Show:
Sam Taylor-Wood and Craig Lucas: Surge
When:
January 25, 2008 through May 11, 2008
Hours:
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where:
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Cleveland
8501 Carnegi Avenue
Cleveland Ohio
Information:
(216) 421-8671
or
(Source: Ohio.com)
The Crying Men series
Sam Taylor-Wood, Benicio Del Toro, 2002,
C-print 28 7/16 x 40 1/16 in. (72.5 x 102.2 cm)
© The artist Courtesy Jay Jopling/White Cube (London)
May 5, 2008
Here's what David Schleicher had to say about
Benicio's performance in Things We Lost In The Fire:
"Del Toro is once again a revelation, and his performance
speaks volumes with his mannerisms and facial expressions
as he attempts to reconcile his sad past with a hopeful future.
Sadly, his tour de force was overlooked by every end of the
year awards in 2007... Del Toro delivers a rehab monologue
that gives quite possibly the most honest insight into
addiction and recovery ever captured on screen."
(Source: David Schleicher's blog)
May 4, 2008
Six (6) special effects photos
were taken on the set of Guerrilla.
Click here to see the photos.
WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC
(Source: Plan9Fx.com)
May 3, 2008
Click on the photo below to watch an interview with
Steven Soderbergh, recorded on February 13, 2007,
in which he talks about The Argentine and Guerrilla.
(Source: Screenrush.co.uk)
May 2, 2008
There will be a 10th Anniversary screening
of Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
at The Enzian Theater in Florida:
Schedule:
May 2, 2008 at 11:30 PM
and
May 3, 2008 at 11:30 PM
(Source: MetroMixOrlando)
May 1, 2008
In a recent interview, Carlos Ruiz talked about Maldeamores.
Here's an excerpt of said interview:
Can you talk about Benicio
del Toro's involvement?
Actually he
commissioned the film. He'd seen my
film school thesis - a short that played in a theater here.
Then we developed a professional relationship.
We developed a workshop on film for kids here
and after two years he said, "You have to make
your own film." He was really the godfather - his name,
he helped with casting, he and Mariem edited the film.
At first we had three chronological stories - he
suggested parallel stories. We didn't want to be
compared to Alejandro González Iñárritu, but he said,
"Hey, it's your first feature! If you are compared to Iñárritu,
that's not so bad." When Mariem started adapting
the stories that way, the film started talking back
to us. And I love the editing - it's like a symphony
the way it moves among the stories.
The cast are local actors?
Puerto Rican actors and two Cubans - one was Silvia Brito.
Benicio found her in New York City.
(Source: Movie Cross Rhodes)