DEADLINE | THE S.H.U.

Edi Gathegi has landed the lead in the Aaron Fjellman-directed indie The SHU, which Fjellman co-worte with James Doc Mason. The film follows an affluent, African American psychiatrist (Gathegi), who gets convicted of murder and sent to solitary confinement. He must fight for an appeal and survive one of two deadly truths: that he’s guilty and being haunted by the ghost of his victim, or innocent and succumbing to the mind bending effects of extreme isolation.  James Jagger, Melora Hardin, and Tony Amendola co-star.  Fjellman produced with Pete Kirtley, Jessa Zarubica, and Matthew Temple. Gathegi played Laurent in the Twilight Saga films and can currently be seen in Crackle’s StartUP and up next in The Blacklist: Redemption. He is repped by ICM.

Colombian actress Julieth Restrepo has been cast in the Pablo Escobar film ‘Escobar, joining Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Peter Saarsgard. Fernando Leon de Aranoa is directing the film from his own script. It tells the story of the drug lord’s tumultuous relationship with his mistress. Restrepo plays Escobar’s wife who must deal with her husband’s philandering while keeping her family together during his hunt down. Bardem, Kalina Kottas, and Miguel Menendez de Zubillaga are producing. Restrepo stars in the Panamanian film Ilegitimo directed by Juan Camilo Gamba. She is repped by Global Artists Agency and AvatarMgmt.