Aman Goyal
Four-time Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuarón’s next film as a producer is heading to his home country! The shooting of ‘Gringo Champion,’ originally titled ‘Campeón Gabacho,’ will start in Mexico on or around September 2 and conclude by October 19. The movie is helmed by Alfonso’s son, Jonás Cuarón, with a screenplay the latter wrote with Aura Xilonen. The project is an adaptation of Xilonen’s novel of the same name.
The film revolves around Liborio, a young undocumented immigrant from Mexico who sneaks across the border into the United States. A street-smart young man, Liborio finds shelter in a bookstore and gets hooked on literature. There, he falls in love with Aireen, and when the circumstances force him to defend her, the situation escalates, resulting in a fire that destroys the bookstore and compels him to flee. Isolated and hurting, Liborio turns to boxing, using the sport as a means to discover his inner strength. Despite numerous obstacles in his way, he does not aim to stop fighting until he gets justice; instead, he longs to achieve bigger dreams.
For the lead role of Liborio, who is described as a resilient 20-year-old with a sensitive inner persona, casting is currently underway. Jonás previously directed the films ‘Year of the Nail’ and ‘Desierto,’ which also tackled themes of immigration and survival. In addition to direction, he writes, edits, and occasionally photographs his films himself. He also co-wrote Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s ‘Gravity‘ along with his father. The collaboration between the two certainly implies ‘Gringo Champion’ will have a strong directorial vision.
One of the defining filmmakers of his generation, Alfonso’s most recent work as a director is Netflix’s ‘Roma,’ which won the Academy Awards for Best Direction and Best Cinematography. The filmmaker has the Academy Award for Best Editing to his name for his work on ‘Gravity,’ which also won him Best Director Oscar. Affectionately known as one of the Three Amigos alongside Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso’s first major studio project was ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,’ followed by his other acclaimed successes such as ‘Children of Men’ and ‘Gravity.’
Cuarón is currently working on his highly anticipated film, ‘Jane.’ Marking his long-awaited return to the director’s chair, this movie stars Charlize Theron in the lead role. The filmmaker is concurrently providing the finishing touches to his Apple TV+ miniseries ‘Disclaimer,’ starring Cate Blanchett.
The production joins some of the high-profile films slated to shoot in Mexico, including the untitled collaboration between director Todd Haynes and Joaquin Phoenix, the Mahershala Ali-led ‘Blade,’ and Netflix’s television adaptation of Denzel Washington’s ‘Man on Fire.’
