EL REY NETWORK SPIES SECOND SEASON OF "MATADOR" WITH 13-EPISODE GREENLIGHT OF HOUR-LONG THRILLER FROM WRITER/PRODUCER OF 'MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3,' 'TRANSFORMERS,' 'STAR TREK' AND 'THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2'
Pick-Up of Sophomore Season Announced in Advance of Highly-Anticipated Premiere
Set for Tuesday, July 15th at 9 PM ET/PT
Sneak Peek of Premiere Available Beginning July 8th on Numerous Digital Platforms
Including iTunes, Vudu and Xbox 360
Beverly Hills, CA - July 10, 2014 - Ahead of its July 15th premiere, El Rey Network today announced a 13-episode second season renewal of the cable channel's spy thriller "Matador" from award-winning writer/producer Roberto Orci.
Shot in Los Angeles, the irreverent, adrenaline-filled series chronicles the unlikely rise of Tony "Matador" Bravo (Gabriel Luna), a professional soccer player for the LA Riot who comes to be known as much for his antics off the field as his moves on it. But what his fans and family don't realize is that it's all a cover - in truth, he is a skilled covert operative executing missions for the CIA. Agent Bravo, nicknamed "Matador" after he takes out a top player known as "The Bull" during tryouts for the team, finds himself suddenly thrust into a clandestine world. But, in balancing his dueling roles, he will be forced to confront the question of his true identity... and it is this mission that may prove to be his most dangerous.
Robert Rodriguez, El Rey Network's Founder and Chairman, said: "When Roberto first told me his concept for 'Matador,' I knew immediately that it had to have a home on El Rey. This show exceeded every possible expectation we had in terms of great storytelling, incredible action and unique characters."
Creator and executive producer Roberto Orci said: "Working with Robert and El Rey has been such a unique experience. We've been given enormous creative freedom and have delivered the show exactly as we envisioned. We have so much story left to tell and thank El Rey and Robert for their unending support for a show that celebrates a new kind of hero on television."
A sneak peek of the premiere episode becomes available this week on numerous platforms including iTunes, Vudu and Xbox 360.
"Matador" features an international cast including Gabriel Luna (NCIS: Los Angeles, Prison Break) in the title role of Tony "Matador" Bravo; Alfred Molina (The Da Vinci Code, Spider Man 2) as Andrés Galan, the billionaire owner of the ascendant LA Riot franchise and a member of an elite group of powerful global players, ruthless individuals who can impact world events on a scale that one would never imagine; Nicky Whelan (Left Behind, Chosen, The Wedding Ringer) as Annie Mason, Tony's analytical and beautiful control agent who serves as the head of a little known branch of the CIA; Neil Hopkins (Bones, True Blood) as Noah Peacott, Annie's brilliant but awkward partner; and Tanc Sade (The Gilmore Girls, 90210) as Alec Holester, an English striker for the LA Riot who is past his prime, but still very skilled.
"Matador" is created by Roberto Orci, Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie and Andrew Orci (also consulting producer). Executive producers are Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Dworkin & Beattie (also showrunners). Also joining as executive producers are Heather Kadin of K/O Paper Products; El Rey Network co-founder Robert Rodriguez; and FactoryMade Ventures and El Rey Network co-founders John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa.
Through their exclusive output deal, Entertainment One Television (eOne) exclusively represents worldwide distribution rights (with the exception of U.S. broadcast network rights) for El Rey Network's "Matador" and other original scripted series created for the U.S based cable network, to be announced.
About El Rey Network
El Rey Network is a new 24-hour English language network founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Curated by Rodriguez and his artistic collective, the network unites the most culturally diverse generation in history through fearless, badass and original content that awakens the renegade in everyone. The network's action-packed content is anchored by original signature dramas, feature films, grindhouse genre, cult classic action, and horror/sci-fi. El Rey Network LLC (www.elreynetwork.com) is jointly owned by Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures with a minority stake held by Univision Networks & Studios, Inc.
About Entertainment One (eOne)
Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE: ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company's comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Spain, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 35,000 film and television titles, 2,800 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
eOne Television develops, produces, acquires and distributes programming across all genres. eOne handles international distribution for original scripted series from AMC (including upcoming dramas Turn and Halt & Catch Fire) and Sundance Channel (including upcoming series The Red Road). The company is the studio and international distributor behind the AMC series, Hell on Wheels, and along with Fox International Channels, in addition to the international distributor for the zombie-phenomenon, The Walking Dead. Some of eOne's current slate includes Discovery Channel's mini-series starring Sam Shepard, Klondike; exciting new werewolf drama, Bitten on Syfy and Space; suspense-drama starring Thandie Newton, Rogue on DIRECTV; popular hit series Haven on Syfy and Shaw; action-packed drama series Rookie Blue on ABC; hit reality series The Sheards on BET and Mary Mary on WEtv; preschool-phenom Peppa Pig on Nick Jr.; and a series of specials of Big Surprise on E! Entertainment featuring stars such as Nick Cannon and Macklemore.
Through strong relationships with broadcasters and content providers, eOne Television International has successfully sold eOne's original and third-party productions to over 500 broadcasters in 150 countries, including key US networks and international pay TV channels.
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