After a bidding war that saw 20th Century Fox emerge victorious (and seemingly the new studio where the filmmaker can lay his cowboy hat), Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete,” co-directed with his longtime editor Ethan Maniquis, is now set for a September 3 release date.
The picture was shot last summer, but will be beaten to the screen by a Rodriguez picture that was shot afterwards (see below, “Predators”). But it’s all relative, really and that’s a normal turn-around (also, shooting two pictures at once isn’t easy). However, September 3 isn’t much of a prime release date, but we’ll give Fox the benefit of the doubt here.
The film, based on a trailer Rodriguez made for “Grindhouse,” his 2007 double-feature with Quentin Tarantino, features an all-star motley crew cast including Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson, Rose McGowan, Jeff Fahey (“Planet Terror”) and Daryl Sabara (“Spy Kids”).
One would assume the target audience in San Diego will see some footage or a trailer at Comic Con later this summer in July? One would think, especially since Nimród Antal’s “Predators” (also a 20th Century Fox film produced by Rodriguez) will hit before Comic Con which runs July 22-25 (July 9th is its release date).
Next up for Rodriguez has already been decided. No, it’s not “Sin City 3” or the “The Jetsons” (which is now officially dead, please cross it off the list with “Red Sonja” which is not his either), it’s “Spy Kids 4: Armageddon” which is expected to begin shooting mid-July at his Troublemaker Studios in Austin with a release date already in place for August 19, 2011.