Rodriguez to co-direct ‘Machete’ with Danny Trejo

If you’ve seen GRINDHOUSE, the double bill of PLANET TERROR by Robert Rodriguez and DEATH PROOF by Quentin Tarantino then you’ve probably seen the mock trailer for MACHETE, a fictional action movie starring Danny Trejo as a machete-wielding avenger that turns out to be not-so-imaginary after all. Rodriguez is planning to turn his long-gestating dream project for Trejo into a feature film with the help of co-director and longtime editing partner Ethan Maniquis.

Written by Rodriguez, MACHETE will star Trejo as a Mexican ex-Federale, who while posing as a day laborer is double-crossed by a corrupt state senator, and uses his proficiency with bladed weapons, and apparently a gatling gun, to get revenge. B-movie star Jeff Fahey and comedian and actor Cheech Marin both made cameos in the trailer and it’s unknown if either of them will be reprising their characters in the feature film.

MACHETE is being financed and produced by Overnight Productions. It’s scheduled to begin shooting in Austin sometime in June.

In related news, Rodriguez is also planning to re-launch the PREDATOR franchise for Fox. Personally, I don’t care for the sequel or ALIENS VS. PREDATOR spin-offs but the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is a genre masterpiece and I wish Rodriguez well in trying to build upon it.

Source: Variety