Maya Entertainment and Open Window Films have acquired The Jesuit, an action-packed drama written and scheduled to be directed by Golden Globe nominee Paul Schrader (Director of American Gigolo, Affliction; writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull). Production is set to begin in early March 2011. Michelle Rodriguez, Willem Dafoe, Paz Vega and Manolo Cardona are slated to star. Elias Axume represents the film for foreign pre-sales at the upcoming American Film Market on behalf of Maya Entertainment.

In The Jesuit, a man comes out of prison in south Texas: "Neto" wants only a new life, far removed from his violent past. Just when it seems he might regain his wife and ten-year old son, she is brutally murdered and the boy kidnapped. Neto must abandon his dream of happiness in an explosive return to methods that made him the most feared man in Texas, and earned him the nickname... The Jesuit.

"We are honored to be working with Paul Schrader, who is an incredibly accomplished and critically lauded filmmaker," said Moctesuma Esparza of Maya Entertainment.

"We're proud to be going into the AFM with this exciting new title for Maya. Schrader says "I'm very excited to be working with my old friends Moctesuma Esparza and Sergio Aguero. Maya is a stone vital company and we're eager to get this hard-edge revenge story going south of the border".

The Jesuit will be produced by John Morrissey (American History X), Santiago Garcia Galvan (Under the Same Moon) and Alex Garcia (The Burning Plain). The project was acquired on behalf of Maya Entertainment by it`s President, Jose Martinez Jr. and Head of production Sergio Aguero (Quarantine) , who will Executive Produce on behalf of Maya Entertainment.