Machete is back....

[bassman]

"They f*cked with the wrong mexican." Official press release: Robert Rodriguez has cast Jessica Alba (SIN CITY), Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez (FAST & FURIOUS), Lindsay Lohan (MEAN GIRLS), Cheech Marin (ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO), Jeff Fahey ("Lost"), Don Johnson and Steven Seagal (UNDER SIEGE) alongside Danny Trejo in the highly anticipated spin-off action flick, MACHETE. The film is based on the "fake" trailer in Rodriguez’s 2007 GRINDHOUSE, featuring Trejo and Fahey reprising their original roles. MACHETE is being produced by Rodriguez who is the co-director with Ethan Maniquis, his long time editor. Rodriguez and Overnight Productions announced today that shooting is gearing up out of Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas. MACHETE was originally a hard-edged trailer featured in GRINDHOUSE that became fanboy fodder since its first showing at the 2006 Comic-Con. "Machete had become my most requested movie and I never actually made it, so when the opportunity arose to answer the call with such an amazing cast, I jumped." said Rodriguez. The feature version of the trailer finds Machete (Trejo) a renegade former Mexican Federale, roaming the streets of Texas after a shakedown from drug lord Torrez (Seagal). Reluctantly, Machete takes an offer from spin doctor Benz (Fahey) to assassinate McLaughlin (De Niro) a corrupt Senator. Double crossed and on the run Machete braves the odds with the help of Luz (Rodriguez), a saucy taco slinger, Padre (Marin) his “holy” brother, and April (Lohan) a socialite with a penchant for guns. All while being tracked by Sartana (Alba), a sexy ICE agent with a special interest in the blade slinger. Rodriguez who also penned the script will serve triple duty as Producer with Elizabeth Avellán of Troublemaker Studios, and Rick Schwartz, Aaron Kaufman, and Iliana Nikolic of Overnight Productions, who will also provide the film's financing.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah man, I heard they were doing the feature a few weeks back - I'm PROPERLY stoked for this, as Machete the trailer immediately looked like my kind of film. When I saw that trailer, I said "I wanna see that movie!" - and now I'll get that chance, woo! Apparently Eli Roth is gonna make Thanksgiving into a feature ... interesting - hopefully, if he does do it, it'll be far more consistent and fun than the likes of the two Hostel movies (if you combined the two, and re-did it a bit, you could have had one excellent horror movie - but instead we got two very uneven and not that good movies). Anyway - bring it the fuck on, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO up for this movie! Also - bring on Sin City 2, dagnammit, they've been teasing us with that possibility for ages now.

[capncnut]

Not bad. Not bad at all.

[bassman]

Also - bring on Sin City 2, dagnammit, they've been teasing us with that possibility for ages now. Last I heard, Rodriguez is waiting on Frank Miller to finish up his new story that will tie into the second film...

[darth los]

I'm really starting to like the body of work he's putting together. Like tarentino his style is an aquired taste. You either love or hate his films.

[bassman]

You either love or hate his films. I don't know if I would go that far. He's actually made some very commercial films. The Spy Kids trilogy for instance. But the style of his adult films? Yeah....it seems to be either love it or hate it. No in between..

[AcesandEights]

All this....plus Jessica Alba?! I hope Seagal is used to his funktasmal level of potential cheesiness and as good fodder for humor.

[darth los]

I don't know if I would go that far. He's actually made some very commercial films. The Spy Kids trilogy for instance. But the style of his adult films? Yeah....it seems to be either love it or hate it. No in between.. Agreed. But doesn't virtually every filmaker "sell out" at some point.

[ProfessorChaos]

i remember watching grindhouse in the theaters and laughing my ass off during that fake trailer...and i said to myself, "damn, if they only made a real movie out of that"....and here we go. fuckin' a. i'll be there.

[bassman]

Hopefully this will be the start of a series of Grindhouse films. I would still love to see "Dont!". Just thinking about that trailer makes me laugh... BTW....I can't believe nobody has brought up the fact that Don Johnson is in this. Don Johnson. Lindsey Lohan is strange, too. But Deniro? FUCK YEAH!

[EvilNed]

I'm a bit mixed. The fake trailer looks excellent, but there are too many crappy, annoying actors in the list for me to be able to enjoy it to it's fullest. At least that's what I fear. I really, really hate Michelle Rodriguez, and to be honest I think that drug dealer in the trailer looks and acts better than Stephen Seagal does. So I don't know. It will be a mixed bag. Personally, I like films like these if they are sincere and aren't the least Hollywood. But come on. De Niro? Rodriguez? Alba? Lohan!? This film will be just like Grindhouse, methinks, a great concept ruined by the execution.

[bassman]

Damn. They're actually doing it. For some reason I really didn't believe it until now that i've seen those pictures. Probably has something to do with the fact that Rodriguez has 1,000 projects at one time. But mmmmm....Alba.

[thxleo]

Savini is also going to appear in this.

[bassman]

Savini is also going to appear in this. Yep. He's a Rodriguez regular...

[MikePizzoff]

How did I miss this thread last week?! This is a movie I've been anticipating since my first viewing of Grindhouse in the theatre. However, I recall like 2 years ago reading an interview with Rodriguez where he talked about making Machete into a straight-to-video trilogy... it's safe to assume that's no longer his plan, considering the cast of characters he's got for the first (and possibly only) installment.