After a roughly three-year hiatus, Rooney Mara returned to the big screen with a starring role in Guillermo Del Toro‘s noir remake of “Nightmare Alley.” And it looks like Mara’s break hasn’t slowed her work ethic. After another lead role in Sarah Polley‘s upcoming Mennonite drama “Women Talking,” Mara already has her next film lined up, and with a filmmaker on the rise.
Mara stars in Alonso Ruizpalacios‘s next film, “La Cocina,” currently in production in Mexico City and NYC (via the FilmStage). Reportedly based on an Arnold Wexler play, the new movie follows “the life in the kitchen of a vast New York City restaurant where all the cultures of the world mix during the lunchtime rush.” It’s Ruizpalacios’s latest film since last year’s “A Cop Story,” a big docu-narrative hybrid hit for the director after its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival last year where it won the Silver Bear prize.
Ruizpalacios’s star has been on the rise in Mexico since his debut film “Güeros” won five awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars). His Stateside success has been growing recently after his critically-acclaimed TV work: two episodes of “Narcos: Mexico” in 2018, and he directed two episodes of Amazon‘s new show “Outer Range.” His sophomore feature, 2018’s “Museum,” also won the Best Script award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
So, what should we expect Mara and Ruizpalacios to cook up “La Cocina?” As Ruizpalacios is a Mexico City native, expect this film to be one from the heart. The film soon shifts production to NYC, so expect an early 2023 release or if we’re very lucky, a festival premiere later this year.