It’s a case of hope lost for Danny Trejo…

The 69-year-old Mexican American actor, best known for his roles in the Machete films, has signed on to star opposite Mischa Barton in Hope Lost, a new crime thriller being financed and produced by Italian company AMBI Pictures.

B-movie favorites Michael Madsen and Daniel Baldwin have signed on to co-star in the feature film, which is set in the world of sex trafficking.

Italian director David Petrucci will helm Hope Lost, with shooting set to begin later this month in Rome.

Barton will play a young Romanian girl, bored with small town life, who dreams of entering the glamorous world she sees on Italian soap operas. One night at a club she meets Gabriele, who claims to be a TV producer who wants to cast her in a reality TV show he is making in Italy. But when she arrives, she is sold to the pimp Manol (Madsen) and forced to make her living on the street. Things get darker with the arrival of Ettore (Trejo), a sadist who makes snuff movies.