Danny Trejo’s latest project, “Pawn Shop,” has hit a filming impasse.
The movie, allegedly inspired by the fatal shooting of Renee Good by Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers in Minneapolis, has temporarily stopped production in Livingston, Mont., after locals protested its filming.
The ICE-centered feature is co-produced by the Daily Wire — the right-wing media company started by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro in 2015 — and Bonfire Legend, a production company formed by prolific producer Dallas Sonnier in 2021.
The two companies most recently collaborated on 2026’s “Run Hide Fight: Infidels,” which served as actor Jonathan Majors’ first film since being convicted of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend in 2023.
“Pawn Shop” began filming in the Montana city in late September and was scheduled to wrap production in Livingston by Oct. 10.
The Livingston city commission decided to suspend the film’s permits on Saturday after hearing complaints from community members, who claimed that the movie’s production interrupted local businesses’ operations — and that the crew did not properly communicate with businesses about its schedule.
The Livingston Food Resource Center, a local food bank, claimed its operations were severely affected by the production in an official statement.
“Since filming began across the street from our building, road closures and armed security guards have increased the barriers to accessing food,” the organization wrote. “Our clients deserve to feel unequivocally safe accessing this essential resource.”
Livingston officials said during Saturday’s meeting that they will review the movie’s permits with the city attorney and make a decision on revamping the production in the near future.
Last week, the news site the Bulwark procured a copy of the film’s script and reported that it “centers on an Antifa siege of a Minneapolis pawn shop amid anti-ICE unrest.”
In the script, locals protest the arrest of a Latino man — later revealed to be a member of the MS-13 gang — by ICE agents.
The film appears to have a pro-ICE tilt, according to the Bulwark, with “anti-ICE riots [preventing] Minneapolis police or other ICE agents from defeating Antifa and MS-13 and saving [the main] characters until the climactic shootout.”
At one point in the script, a 40-year-old woman wearing a “covid mask” rams her car into an ICE van, killing a Latino agent; she is subsequently murdered herself by the slain agent’s partner. This plot point has drawn attention due to its direct parallels with the circumstance that led to the killing of Good in Minneapolis by ICE agents in January.
The production faced its own real-life protests after locals caught wind of the film’s subject matter, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Trejo’s casting was first announced by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle last week, after speaking with one of Trejo’s fellow cast members, as well as Livingston locals who had seen and photographed the “Machete” actor roaming the city’s downtown area. Over the weekend, Deadline confirmed that Trejo, along with “Reservoir Dogs” actor Harvey Keitel and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” star Henry Thomas, was scheduled to appear in the film after reviewing the call sheet.
Trejo’s inclusion came as a shock to many online as the 82-year-old actor previously voiced support for immigrant communities.
During the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, Trejo was a part of a coalition of Latino actors who pushed forward the #AyudaEnEspanol campaign, which advocated for providing COVID-19 resources kits in Spanish for Latino migrant farmworkers across the U.S.
In an interview with TMZ in fall 2025, the actor who has appeared in over 400 films and television programs was asked to give a message to the families that had been affected by ICE raids.
“To the families, keep up hope,” Trejo said. “Help your neighbor and do whatever you can for people in need.”
The Times has reached out to Trejo, the Daily Wire and the production company Bonfire Legend for comment.
