Stars ABC’S ‘Promised Land’: Cecilia Suárez-led ABC pilot takes on John Ortiz
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ABC’S ‘Promised Land’: It is being billed as the generationspanning story of two Latinx families vying for wealth and power (and winemaking supremacy) in the Sonoma Valley.and while “Promised Land” only secured a pilot order from ABC in February, the potential hour-long drama has already assembled much of its cast and crew.
John Ortiz (“Fast & Furious,” 2009) has been cast in the lead role of wealthy patriarch, Joe Sandoval. Joe took a small vineyard owned by a former rival and managed to turn it into a food and wine empire. But on the road to riches, he managed to alienate a lot of people, including some members of his own family — something that will likely come back to haunt him.
Ortiz will star opposite Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”), who will play the role of the Sandoval family’s matriarch. Lettie (Suárez) will do anything to keep her family and the business empire intact, but a figure from her past will lead her to question the costs of achieving the American Dream. Augusto Aguilera (“Too Old to Die Young”) stars as Joe’s stepson, Mateo, who has never felt fully accepted by the family despite all his hard work as general manager of the vineyard.
Andres Velez (“Coyote Lake,” 2019) will star as Carlos Rincón, who arrives at the vineyard in
Cecilia Suárez to star in “Promised Land” on ABC search of a better life. Christina Ochoa (“Animal Kingdom”) will play Joe’s eldest daughter and heir to his empire, Veronica Sandoval, while Mariel Molino (“Locas por el Cambio”) will portray youngest daughter Camila, whose flirtatious, party-girl attitude masks her ambition.
Formerly titled “American Heritage,” “Promised Land” comes from Matt
Lopez (“Gone”), who serves as both writer and executive producer.
“Homeland’s”
Michael
Cuesta has been tapped to direct the pilot and is also on board as executive producer.
Yabba-dabba-redo: “The Flintstones” was the first animated series to air in prime time and the one with the longest run before “The Simpsons” came along in 1989. So it seems fitting that a long-planned “Flintstones” sequel should land on Fox and share a home network with the Simpson family.
Fox has teamed up with “Charlie’s Angels” (2019) director/producer/writer/ actor Elizabeth Banks and Warner Bros.animation to develop “Bedrock” as a prime-time animated adult comedy series. Reportedly, the story will be set two decades after the original “Flintstones” series, with Fred on the verge of retiring while 20-something Pebbles is just starting out in her own career. (A grown-up Pebbles worked for an advertising agency in the 1993 Christmas special.) Banks will voice Pebbles, but there are more changes afoot: the Stone Age has given way to the Bronze Age, and the residents of Bedrock will find this evolution “harder than a swing from Bamm-bamm’s club” (per the official description).
“Bedrock” is a work in progress that’s already been several years in the making. In 2019, Variety first reported that Banks and WB Animation were working together on a new version. But efforts to revive the Hanna-barbera franchise go farther back — even Seth Macfarlane, another mainstay at Fox, tried his hand at a reboot in 2011. Macfarlane ultimately parked the idea after network executives didn’t “love” the script, and in a Reddit AMA, Macfarlane later admitted he just couldn’t “figure out a way to find enough differentiation between a modern-day Fred Flintstone and … [”Family Guy” character] Peter Griffin.”
But now, it seems Banks might have found a way to push the idea forward with the help of writer Lindsay Kerns (“DC Super Hero Girls”), who is penning the pilot script.
“Long before the Simpsons and Springfield, the Griffins and Quahog, or even when the Belchers started serving burgers on Ocean Avenue, there were the Flintstones and Bedrock,” Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for Fox Entertainment, said. “Their imprint on the animation universe is undeniable, and the idea of adapting it for today’s audience is a challenge we here at Fox are very much looking forward to taking on with Warner Bros., Elizabeth and Lindsay. No pressure whatsoever, really.”