Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete” will hit theaters in less than two weeks (September 3) and thus will try and prove it can beat the curse of “Grindhouse” — from whence it came — which bombed at the box-office in the spring of 2007.
Meanwhile, Eli Roth has been threatening to expand his “Grindhouse” trailer,”Thanksgiving,” into a feature length picture for some time now and with “Machete” about to hit screens, his gums are flapping once more. Don’t worry too much, it sounds like it’s still in the very early stages. In a conversation with Cinemablend he says:
I’ve been working on the script with my co-writer, Jeff Rendell, who plays the pilgrim in the trailer. And it’s me imitating Jeff’s voice . But Jeff has been working. I said that his deal is he has to work on the script while I’m promoting ‘The Last Exorcism,’ and as soon as I’m done in mid-September he’s going to fly to California, we’re going to sit down, and bang out the script.
Honestly, we don’t care, and assume “Thanksgiving” will either a) never hit the screen at all or b) will be released as a cheapo, direct-to-DVD schlocker that only B-movie gore enthusiasts are aware of, but hardly a big enough release to merit the title of second “Grindhouse” trailer made into a feature (then again the Roth-produced “The Last Exorcism” hits theaters in wide release and has a good RT rating, so perhaps anything is possible).
Roth has enthusiasm for sure, and great friends to hopefully be inspired by (Tarantino, Rodriguez, Edgar Wright, etc.), but comparatively, he’s still the little loud mouth mascot let in the room of a contemporary film club. Maybe he’s just amusing. And maybe one day he’ll make serious film that people care about. Stranger things sometimes happen.
Here’s the original “Thanksgiving” trailer. Assume if “Machete” doesn’t perform well at the box-office (though i’s budget is inexpensive) the chances of seeing a “Thanksgiving” movie happen are even slimmer.