While Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse-spawned, blood-splattered exploit-o-thon Machete didn’t quite deliver as we hoped, it did well enough given its low budget to activate the promised sequel, Machete Kills. Now Rodriguez has announced that it’ll start shooting in April.
“The fan response to the Machete character has been fanatical since his first appearance,” Rodriguez said in a statement scooped up by Deadline. “Machete is truly a super hero and Machete Kills will be bigger and more ambitious than the first time.”
This time around, the script is by Kyle Ward, with some development polishing by Rodriguez and brother Marcel Rodriguez. The plot will find Machete (Danny Trejo, hopefully) recruited by the US government to track down a crazed cartel leader in Mexico who is hatching plans with an eccentric billionaire arms dealer to create global anarchy via a space-based weapon. So, just an ordinary day at the office for the knife-wielding former Federale, then…
Trejo is in talks to return, though given his close working relationship with Rodriguez and the fact that Machete is his signature character, we doubt there’ll be much negotiating before a deal is signed. And anyone who survived the first film is likely to get invited back.
There’s no word yet on whether Rodriguez will tackle this one alone, or whether he’ll recruit a co-director as he did with Ethan Maniquis on the original.