Danny Trejo to Star in Indie MMA-Themed Drama “American Underdog”

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Danny Trejo is mixed-ing things up…

The 78-year-old Mexican American actor and Machete star has landed a role in American Underdog, an indie drama set in the world of MMA.Veronica Falcón will also star in the film, which is now in production in Chicago.

The film, marking the feature directorial debut of Peruvian-American filmmaker Gustavo Martin, will also star Vishy Ayyar and Andrew Gray.

The film’s protagonist is Jai (Ayyar), an ex-con on a soulful path wrestling with personal redemption when outside circumstances pit him in the ring against the fierce opponent, Marcus (Gray).

Trejo portrays Dennis, who reluctantly comes out of retirement to train his former student, while Falcón steps into the role of Marcella, a local gym owner and community legend shepherding Jai in his return to fighting.

A production of Peach Partners, in association with Mulberry Films and MxW Ventures, American Underdog will also star Suleka Mathew (Your Honor), Taylor Treadwell (Big Little Lies), Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots), Ranjita Chakravarty (Never Have I Ever) and Jaspal Binning (The Newsroom).

Martin and Matthew Mascia wrote the script, with Naveen A. Chathapuram (The Last Victim, Brown Nation), Rashaana Shah (IFC’s Bollywood Hero) and Cristy Coors Beasley (The Westsiders, LonelyGirl15) aboard to produce.

Trejo is best known for his work in such films as Machete, Grindhouse, Planet Terror, From Dusk Till Dawn, Heat, Good Mourning, The Ridiculous 6, Predators, Halloween, Smiley Face, The Devil’s Rejects, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, xXx and Con Air, among many others.

His notable television credits include Better Things, American Gods, The Flash and Sons of Anarchy.

Falcón can currently be seen in the second season of HBO’s Perry Mason and has also appeared on shows like Ozark, Why Women Kill and Queen of the South, to name a few.

Her notable film credits for the actress include The Starling, Jungle Cruise, The Forever Purge and Voyagers. Up next for release for her is the Amazon Studios drama A Million Miles Away with Rosa Salazar, Garret Dillahunt and Michael Peña.

Cheech Marin to Star in the Bobby Farrelly-Directed Film “Champions”

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Cheech Marin is a champion…

The 75-year-old Mexican American actor will lead Champions, a recently-wrapped film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

Marin stars alongside Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson and Matt Cook.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018.

It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.

Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens and Champ Pederson.

Mark Rizzo penned the script.

Focus Features will distribute the film domestically, with Universal Pictures handling its international release.

Marin is an actor and comedian who broke out in the ’70s, alongside Tommy Chong, as one half of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong. He’s appeared in such films as Machete, Planet Terror, Grindhouse, Tin Cup, From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado, Ghostbusters II, Born in East L.A., After Hours and Up in Smoke, along with series including Elena of Avalor, Lodge 49 and Jane the Virgin.

Robert Rodriguez Signs Two-Year First Look Deal with HBO & HBO Max

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Robert Rodriguez has sealed a new partnership…

The 53-year-old Mexican American filmmaker has signed a two-year first-look deal with HBO and HBO Max, founder of Troublemaker Studios.

As part of the collaboration, Rodríguez will first bring projects to the cable company and streamer for potential development as original series. His son Racer Rodríguez will serve as lead development executive under the pact. Projects could potentially be completed at the studio’s production facilities in Austin, Texas.

“Robert’s masterful, high concept productions are a perfect match for our HBO Max audiences. We are excited to jump into this partnership and work on brand-new, provocative stories,” said Joey Chavez, executive vice president of original programming, drama, HBO Max.

Rodríguez said of the partnership, “It’s intriguing to be able to tap into the wealth of iconic IP available across the WarnerMedia portfolio and explore new stories to tell. I’m looking forward to a meaningful collaboration with the high caliber creative talent at HBO and HBO Max who have proven they’re willing to take risks, challenge norms and tell inclusive stories while producing a wide breadth of quality content.”

Rodríguez is currently the executive producer and director of the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off of The Mandalorian. He’s known for his work as a writer, director, and producer of many notable films including Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frank Miller’s Sin City, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D, Grindhouse, Machete, and Alita: Battle Angel.

Danny Trejo to Star in “The Protector”

Posted on November 23, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Danny Trejois protected…

The 75-year-old Mexican American actor will star opposite Billy Zane, Randy Couture and James Russo in the action film The Protector from filmmaker Justin Lee.

Ed Morroneleading the film as protagonist Mickey Rome, an aging protection specialist who’s ready to holster his guns and head for retirement. When the agency he works for demands one last job be done, Mickey obliges and is sent to Central America to watch a husband and wife who have stolen $8m from a ruthless crime family.

Doctor Drew Pinsky, Johnny Messnerand Eddie Finlayare also part of the cast.

“This movie is a fun throwback to films from the ’80s like Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run and 48 Hours. It has action. It has comedy. It has dark moments. It was such a joy to get to work in a space I love so much with phenomenal talent,” said director Lee.

Trejo, best known for his title role as Machetein the Robert Rodriguez-helmed films, has previously appeared in Anaconda, Con Air, Grindhouseand Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Netflix Acquires Global Streaming Rights to Ramirez’s Thriller “Madre”

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Life is but a stream for Daniela Ramírez…

Netflix has acquired global streaming rights to Madre, Aaron Burns’ psychological thriller starring the 30-year-old Chilean actress.

Madre, which made its premiere at SXSW, marks Burns’ sophomore turn as feature director.

Madre stars Ramírez as a four-months-pregnant mother of a severely autistic boy (Matías Bassi). After a chance encounter with a gifted Filipino caretaker (Aida Jabolin), the young mother begins to suspect that the new nanny is using the language barrier to turn the boy against her. And then things get sinister.

Burns, who appeared in Roth’s pics The Green Inferno and Keanu Reeves-starrer Knock, Knock, directs Madre from his own original screenplay.

His comedy Blacktino was released in 2011, and before that he worked on visual effects for Grindhouse and Machete, among other credits.

Netflix will begin streaming Madre exclusively by the end of 2017.

Ramirez’s previous credits include La Poseída and Los Archivos del Cardenal.

Sheen Cast as U.S. President in “Machete” Sequel

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Like father, like son…

Following in his father Martin Sheen’s footsteps, Charlie Sheen is about to get presidential.

The 46-year-old part-Spanish actor has joined the cast of Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills. Like Sheen’s father, who played President Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing, the controversial actor will play the President of the United States.

Rodriguez made the announcement Thursday on Twitter, where he wrote, “I just cast Charlie Sheen in #machetekills as the President of the United States! Who better? More soon…”

Sheen, who will be starring in FX’s new series Anger Management, retweeted that message, and a representative for the controversial actor confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that negotiations are taking place.

Rodriguez is currently in production on the sequel to his Grindhouse action movie Machete, which once again stars Danny Trejo as the title character and includes Jessica Alba, Demián Bichir, Sofia Vergara and Zoe Saldana.

In the sequel, Machete is called upon by the U.S. government to stop a cartel leader and an arms dealer who have a weapon in space.

The broadly-written part initially called for the president to be African-American and have a basketball court on the White House lawn but has since been rewritten.

Trejo to Star in Dead in Tombstone

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Danny Trejo has signed on for his next film project… And, he’ll be in good company.

The 67-year-old Mexican American actor, best known for playing “tough guy” roles in films like Machete and Grindhouse, will star in Dead in Tombstone opposite Anthony Michael Hall and Mickey Rourke.

The action adventure film, which begins filming next week, centers on Trejo’s character Guerrero Hernandez, the leader of the Blackwater Gang of outlaws. After freeing his half-brother, Red (Hall), from prison, Guerrero’s plan to loot the mining town of Edendale backfires spectacularly, when he is double crossed by his half-sibling. After making a deal with the Devil (Rourke), Guerrero comes back from the dead a year later to seek revenge. The town, which has presciently been renamed Tombstone will soon have its dusty streets running knee-deep in a river of blood.

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