Danny Trejo Picking Up The Knife Again

While Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse-spawned, blood-splattered exploit-o-thon Machete didn’t quite deliver on the satisfaction front, it did well enough given its low budget to activate plans for 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’s eager news cone. “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) 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 apparently 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.

Sources:
Machete Kills Kicks Off In April

Replacing Javier Bardem

There was much rending of garments and wailing of tears when it was revealed that Javier Bardem would not be taking on the role of the villain in the Despicable Me sequel, called, in a feat of staggering originality, Despicable Me 2. But now Steve Carell’s Gru will have an opponent boasting the voice of Al Pacino.

Bardem had been in negotiations to play a brand new threat called El Macho, who boasts a child called Machito. There’s no word on whether Pacino will directly take over that role, but given the production schedule on these movies, we doubt there’d be much chance for change if that really was what the new big bad is all about. Especially since the sequel is due out next year.

And in the Minion-infected universe of Despicable Me, of course, the term “villain” is a changeable one, as Gru himself started out as a megalomaniacal evildoer whose heart was won over by three adorable orphans. We’re pretty sure he’ll be back to some level of wrongdoing this time around.

And while there has been no confirmation on other casting just yet, we’d expect the likes of Russell Brand and Julie Andrews to return.

Despicable Me 2 is currently set to arrive on June 28, 2013.

Sources:
Al Pacino Is Despicable Me 2′s Big Bad

Disney’s new gaming’ toon

Last August, Disney used its D23 convention event to unveil an early look at its big animated hope for the year (at least one not produced by Pixar), Wreck-It Ralph. And now, courtesy of French site CineHeroes, we’re getting our first look at imagery from the movie, which you can check out in the gallery below.

The hero of the story is Ralph (voiced by John C Reilly) who is actually the villain of his video game. But he’s sick of just being the guy who ruins buildings, only for perfect, player-controlled hero Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) to come along and clean up, winning friendship and plaudits along the way.

Ralph decides that there must be more to life, and that he wants a shot at being a hero, so when a modern, first-person shooter game is installed in his arcade, Ralph jumps at the chance to win some respect. But he wrecks everything in the new game, run by tough Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) and unleashes a dangerous new enemy that threatens every pixel around him. He’ll have to work with a troublemaking character from a kid-friendly racing game (Sarah Silverman) to try to put things right before the while arcade shuts down…

{Wreck-It Ralph Pictures}

From what we saw, Wreck-It Ralph could be a gaming reference-littered delight, a knowing, loving tweak on 8-bit nostalgia and more modern, bloodthirsty shooters.

The film arrives on December 26.

Sources:
First Wreck-It Ralph Pics Online