Machete Kills Again… In Space! Trailer Kills It
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In 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino teamed up to deliver the trashy, schlocky exploitation double feature Grindhouse. Rodriguez created the science-fiction-zombie-mad-scientist-horror flick Planet Terror, while Tarantino delivered the talky-muscle-car-slasher Death Proof. Fake trailers played between the features, and delighted audiences across the country, including one that formed the basis of the Machete movies. Three years later, Rodriguez turned his idea of a badass Mexican vigilante into a full-length film. A sequel, Machete Kills followed earlier this year, and has fun little tidbit for sci-fi fans.
It’s shocking enough that Machete got a sequel, but as it stands, it would even be more surprising if a third film were to follow. Machete Kills was a box office bomb when compared to the original, which saw moderate box office success with $44 million, while the sequel only grossed $13.5 million against a $20 million production budget.
Considering that most people didn’t watch Machete Kills, the fake trailer above played just before the feature, teasing Machete Kills Again… In Space!. Surfacing on Reddit, the faux-preview subscribes to the theory that when a franchise has nowhere else to go, you take the action to space. We saw this practice time and time again, think Moonraker, Jason X, and Leprechaun 4: Leprechaun In Space, to name a few. I’m waiting for Fast & Furious 11: Space Drifting.
Machete Kills Again… In Space! is also hilarious. That tatted-up outlaw gets the space babes and kicks all kinds of ass along the way. The film even features Leonardo DiCaprio as the villain, The Man in the Silver Mask, with a very clever “subject-to-change” disclaimer. We get to see Machete involved some awesome lightsaber-machete duels, along with Michelle Rodriguez, Alexa Vega, and Lady Gaga as “whoever she wants to be.” There’s even robot “Justin Bieber,” who hobbles around before Machete shots him. The trailer looks and feels like an exploitation version of Moonraker, and is saddled with a fitting ‘X’ rating.
Although I didn’t watch Machete Kills in theaters, I will definitely pick this one up when it hits home video at the beginning of 2014. I was lukewarm on the original film because it felt better as a fake trailer than an expanded feature film. Nevertheless, Machete has his fans, so it would be interesting to see if Rodriquez actually turns Machete Kills Again… In Space! into a real film.
The 45-year-old director is currently working on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which has been in development since 2005, and the rumored Predators sequel. Rodriguez has really made a career for himself delivering low and moderate budget genre movies ever since El Mariachi in 1992.
Machete Kills will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on January 21, 2014.
