Actor Danny Trejo (Machete) is headed on a new adventure – this time on the Seven Seas.
According to Variety, Trejo will star as 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the upcoming historical epic 1521. The film will tell the story of the Spanish expedition Magellan led across the Atlantic Ocean and down the eastern coast of South America.
There, he discovered a natural passage that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which Magellan named Estrecho de Todos los Santos (“Strait of All Saints”). The name of the passage was later changed to the Strait of Magellan in honor of the explorer.
Magellan was killed during the voyage in what is today known as the archipelagic country of the Philippines in Southeast Asia during the Battle of Mactan in 1521. The fight was between the indigenous people of the area against the Spaniards who landed there. After their loss, the Spanish fled back to Spain. The “victory of Mactan” is said to be the reason the Spanish colonization of the Philippines was delayed until 1564 when it was conquered by Spanish navigator Miguel López de Legazpi and his men.
1521 will be directed by actor and first-time feature filmmaker Michael Copon, produced by Filipino-American filmmaker Francis B. Lara Ho (Palawan: Last Man Out) and written by Mary Krell-Oishi (Angel Warrior). Along with Trejo, the film will star Copon (Scorpion King 2), Bea Alonzo (Unbreakable), Hector David Jr. (East Los High) and Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan (Iisa Pa Lamang).
The film, starring Danny Trejo, is scheduled to start production this month in Palawan, which is an archipelagic province of the Philippines.