Jennifer Lopez Drops Out of Chilean Miners Movie

The actress of Puerto Rican descent, Jennifer Lopez, has dropped out of “The 33,” a movie about the dramatic survival of miners trapped underground for over two months in a mine in northern Chile, the entertainment blog Deadline said.

The actress and singer was unable to commit to the project due to scheduling problems resulting from her return to the TV program American Idol, the blog said.

Craig Borten, co-screenwriter of “Dallas Buyers Club” that so much notice garnered at the Toronto Film Festival, will be in charge of rewriting and polishing the screenplay of the film directed by Mexico’s Patricia Riggen and starring Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen.

Banderas will play Mario Sepulvera, the charismatic miner who earned the nickname of “Super Mario” during the 2010 mine collapse in the Atacama Desert.

The story revolves around what happened deep in the San Jose mine, where the miners were trapped for 70 days at some 700 meters (2,300 feet) underground before they were finally rescued in October 2010.

The original script was written in collaboration with the miners themselves and includes details never before told about their first 17 days underground, before they were able to make contact with the outside world.

Production is set to begin Nov. 25.

Published in Latino Daily News