As Machete barrels toward its opening weekend with the same wafting smell of niche that ruined the Scott Pilgrim box office party, it seems a bit premature to start talk of a sequel. Or not. During a press junket for the film -- which apparently teases such future titles as Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again in its end credits -- director Robert Rodriguez all but confirmed that there will be more Machete movies in the future. Because if you can't have another James Bond, why not more Machete instead?
Rodriguez even has a way of keeping his fairly impressive and diverse cast -- among them Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Movieline favorite Jeff Fahey -- as franchise-ready as possible:
"Some people who didn't die in the film actually did die, I just cut out their deaths. I wanted to save them for a sequel, but you actually see that they did perish. Where the movie will go next? I have a bunch of ideas for it. It's all in the end titles. We have to make them, of course, Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again. Once you put it out there, just like we did with the trailer, you have to make it.
Considering Rodriguez recently told EW (print edition), "if this thing makes five bucks, we'll make another one," there doesn't seem to be a reason to doubt him. Fahey, make sure your cell phone is turned on!
ยท The Joke Becomes Reality: Rodriguez Talks 'Machete Kills' and 'Machete Kills Again;' Says 'You Have to Make' The Sequels [The Playlist]