Coming off a number one debut this weekend for “Blue Beetle,” director Ángel Manuel Soto has found his next studio project and will direct “The Wrecking Crew” at MGM, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
“The Wrecking Crew” was written by Jonathan Topper prior to the WGA strike. Additionally, Topper’s deal was negotiated and closed prior to the WGA strike.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the project is being described as a buddy action movie.
Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa are being eyed to headline “The Wrecking Crew” and both were in talks to star prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The duo initially set up the project in 2021, and after a bidding war, the project landed at MGM.
Ángel Manuel Soto is a director, producer, and screenwriter known for bold telling stories that highlight diverse characters from a variety of backgrounds. Most recently, Soto directed “Blue Beetle,” a DC Films/Warner Bros feature film that stars Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Xolo Maridueña, and Harvey Guillén, which opened to #1 at box office over the weekend hauling in $25 million.
“Blue Beetle” follows the story of Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American teenager, and is the first DC film and the first live-action film to feature a Latino superhero as the lead.
In 2020, Soto’s film “Charm City Kings” premiered during Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Barry Jenkins and Sherman Payne wrote the script with a cast starring Jahi Winston, Teyonah Parris, Will Catlett, and introduced Meek Mill to his acting debut.
Soto is also co-writing a “Transformers” spin-off for Paramount Pictures, which he is attached to direct. Recently, Soto produced and directed the limited doc series “Menudo Forever Young,” which just premiered on HBO Max. He is developing an animated/live-action hybrid for Paramount Pictures with Ryan Reynolds starring and producing. He currently has a series in development at Amazon, which he is co-creating with Gareth Dunnett Alcocer. Juno Diaz and Borderless Pictures are executive producing.
A native of Puerto Rico, Ángel Manuel Soto discovered soccer and boxing at an early age, which inspired his first film “El Pugil,” an homage to the kids he had grown up with and the power of sports in economically repressed communities. Angel pursued his interest in art, studying architecture and eventually documentary filmmaking and writing.
He began his career in entertainment as a TV producer and later focused on art direction at a local advertising agency. He made his feature directorial debut with “La Granga” (The Farm), which sheds a thought-provoking light on the tough realities facing the people of Puerto Rico. He went on to create several groundbreaking narrative VR pieces such as “Dinner Party” and “Bashir’s Dream,” which have premiered to critical success at festivals.
Soto is repped at CAA, Redefine Entertainment, Herrera-Reiss Strategies and Behr Abramson Levy Johnson.