Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria Parker, Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Peter O’ Toole, and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek) will star in the Mexican historical epic Cristiada.  Variety reports that the film centers on the 1926-1929 Cristero War, “touched off by a rebellion over the Mexican government’s 1917 attempt to remove the influence of the Catholic Church and secularize the country.”  Chronicles of Narnia visual FX supervisor Dean Wright will direct the film from a script he wrote with Michael James Love.  The film also stars Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood) and Nestor Carbonell (Lost).

In a rare sighting of the couple together, Eva Longoria and hubby Tony Parker were photographed Thursday in Miami on what we believe was Utopia, the yacht owned by Longoria’s Miami Beach pals Loren and JR Ridinger. In town for a show at the Fillmore Wednesday night, Spanish rock band Hombres G. made a late-night stop at Mercadito in Midtown Miami Tuesday. The band kicked off the meal with tequila shots and feasted on a menu created especially for them by chef Jose Mendin.

Actor Enrique Murciano was at Wynwood hot spot Cafeina Friday for the Canadian tribute party, fittingly called The Eh Team. According to our source, the actor spent most of his time in the garden sipping vodka cocktails in between flirting with his swooning female admirers.

Sean Penn’s been working hard on earthquake relief in Haiti, but that didn’t stop him from having a little fun on a pit stop in Miami, where he dropped by Coco De Ville for a little R&R. Although Penn didn’t pose for photos (par for the course, with him), he was spotted chatting up “a fair share of ladies,” says our spy, who adds: “A blond he was seen chatting with left slyly a few minutes after his departure.”

Pop singer Ryan Cabrera showed no signs of despair following his recent breakup with The Hills’ Audrina Patridge when he performed at Mansion Wednesday. Hitting the stage for an acoustic set, the heartthrob was swarmed with girls — many of whom he and a male friend entertained later at his VIP table, where he was seen pounding shots of 901 Tequila in, uh, excellent spirits.

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is to spend her summer away from Wisteria Lane – getting scared.

The actress has signed on to star in Franc Reyes’s new horror film Tenement.

Reyes has not revealed the full plot of the scary movie but it is believed the story follows five potential buyers who lose more than they bargained for when they attend an open house in a haunted tenement building in the Bronx.

Reyes added: ‘If I had to point to one film that had the full impact of story, writing and genius directing, on me it has to be The Exorcist.

‘Telling the story of Tenement fuses The Exorcist, [The] Amityville Horror and Rosemary’s Baby.’

Filming on the supernatural horror film is set to begin in New York in May.

Eva Longoria Parker won’t take sides in the legal spat between Nicollette Sheridan and Marc Cherry, but she will say this: that the Desperate Housewives set is a healthy work environment.

“The only thing I can say is we don’t have a hostile set, and Marc’s really nice, and Nicollette’s a nice girl, too,” Longoria Parker says in an interview set to air Monday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Sheridan, 46, who played Edie Britt on the show, filed court papers this week saying she was fired after complaining that Cherry, the show’s creator, had hit her in the face on set.

Longoria Parker, 35, tells the TV host that she and her other castmates are stuck in the middle of the dispute. “We’re just kind of staying out of it,” she says, adding that they just want to “protect our set and protect our work because we love it. We love going to work every day.”

The actress says she first heard of the lawsuit when Ryan Seacrest asked her about it on Wednesday. During that radio interview, she said Sheridan and Cherry “did have a thing on set … a couple of years ago,” but that she didn’t know the details.

EVA LONGORIA PARKER is asking fans to help her favourite charity win a $250,000 (£156,250) grant.

The Desperate Housewives star is a long term spokeswoman for PADRES Contra El Cancer and she’s eyeing a cash prise for the organisation.

The charity is just one of many competing for a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Everything initiative – and Longoria Parker is determined to win the money on behalf of the organisation.

In a post on her Facebook.com site, she writes, “OK guys, I need your support in helping kids with cancer! We are competing for a grant from Pepsi for the Padres kids.

“Tell your friends and family to vote and share my link with everyone through your Facebook and Twitter accounts! You can also add a daily reminder to your Outlook Calendar or Phone and vote. Thank you for your support!”

Pepsi is using actress Eva Longoria Parker to spread the words “Yo Sumo” — Spanish for “I count” — in a campaign to encourage Hispanics to not only be tallied in the 2010 census but also to share their experiences in shaping the country, Laurel Wentz reports. Longoria will direct and produce a documentary based on stories posted to the Pepsiyosumo Web site.

“We felt the Hispanic consumer needs to go beyond simply being counted, and count,” says Martha Bermudez, Pepsi’s senior marketing manager, multicultural marketing.

Pepsi and Dieste, Pepsi’s Hispanic agency, are working with NBC Universal’s Telemundo and its youth-oriented cable channel Mun2 and the Telemundo.com site to spread the word. A Dieste spot features quick cuts of young Hispanics talking about being counted, with both English and Spanish voiceovers. Another partner, Mexican T-shirt businessman Edoardo Chavarin, has designed a Pepsi “Yo Sumo” T-shirt.

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria has been tracing her family history in a new TV show.

The actress learned about her great-grandfather, Pedro Longoria, who lived in northern Mexico – a Spanish colony at that time – as she appeared on US show Faces Of America.

The show revealed that in 1749, Pedro took part in a mission led by the intrepid Spanish explorer José de Escandón.

De Escandón was under orders to push the Spanish frontier north and had advertised for people to go with him with the promise that they would be rewarded with free land.

Pedro was eventually given 4,500 acres of land by the King of Spain. His land was just north of Rio Grande, in what is known today as Texas.

The show is currently airing in the US and will also feature stars such as Meryl Streep and director Mike Nichols tracing their family tress.