Celebrity sighting: Danny Trejo spotted in Syracuse as new movie films

“Machete” is in Central New York.

Actor Danny Trejo was spotted at Blink Fitness Onondaga on Tuesday, working out as a new movie shoots locally. Trejo, wearing a Los Angeles Rams hat days after his favorite football team won the Super Bowl, posed for a photo with the Syracuse gym’s manager, Brandon Anderson.

Anderson, who posted a photo of the celebrity encounter on Instagram, said Trejo told him he’s in town to shoot a movie.

Liverpool-based American High is currently filming “The Binge 2: It’s a Wonderful Binge,” a holiday-themed sequel to 2020′s “The Binge.”

Vince Vaughn (“Wedding Crashers”), Skyler Gisondo (“The Amazing Spider-Man”), Dexter Darden (“Saved By the Bell”), and Eduardo Franco (“Booksmart”) starred in the first film. A cast has not been officially announced for “The Binge 2,” but Darden and Franco were spotted on set filming Christmas party scenes in downtown Syracuse last week.

A casting call last month hinted at Trejo’s involvement in the sequel, seeking a “Danny Trejo lookalike” for an unspecified American High project. It’s unclear if the role was for a Trejo stunt double or a stand-in.

Trejo, 77, has appeared in more than 400 movies and TV shows, including “Machete,” “Machete Kills,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Heat,” “The Flash,” “Death Race 2,” “Muppets Most Wanted,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Breaking Bad,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Desperado,” “Modern Family,” “Con Air,” “Spy Kids” and the new “Star Wars” series “The Book of Boba Fett.” He also owns several L.A. restaurants, including Trejo’s Tacos and Trejo’s Donuts, and recently published an autobiography, “Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood.”

“The Binge,” shot in 2019, was the biggest movie ever made in Syracuse with more than 2,000 extras and 50-60 local crew members. Scenes were shot at Syracuse Studios (formerly the A.V. Zogg Middle School in Liverpool), Onondaga Lake Parkway, Hanover Square, Carnegie Library, Clinton Square, Village Burger in Liverpool, a bridge in Van Buren, and the Greater Syracuse Soundstage (formerly known as the nano film hub in DeWitt).

Jordan VanDina, who wrote the first “Binge” film, will make his directorial debut with “The Binge 2.″

“In the near future all drinking and drugs are banned except for one glorious day known as The Binge,” the new film’s synopsis says. “This year that day happens to miraculously land on Christmas. Watch a holiday adventure like you’ve never seen before that includes magical storybooks, catchy songs, beautiful stop motion animation and a Christmas saga that won’t be soon forgotten… and drugs! Lots of them! Merry Bingemas!”

American High founder Jeremy Garelick, who directed the first “The Binge” movie, will produce the sequel along with Will Phelps, Ryan Bennett and Molle DeBartolo. Andrew Reyes will executive produce the project.

“The Binge 2: It’s a Wonderful Binge” is the first franchise for American High, which recently wrapped its 12th film in the Syracuse area in four years. Other American High titles include “Sex Appeal,” “Plan B,” “Big Time Adolescence,” “Looks That Kill,” “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise,” “Holly Slept Over” and “Banana Spit,” along with the upcoming releases “I Love My Dad,” “Sid is Dead,” “Love in Color,” and “Empire Waist.”

A release date has not been announced for “The Binge 2,” but given the holiday theme it will likely come out around Christmas on Hulu.

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