Overnight Productions, the producers of Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 Grindhouse spin-off Machete, has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Rodriguez’s Quick Draw Productions that could ultimately block the release of the upcoming sequel Machete Kills. According to Deadline, “Overnight claims that… they were not provided with Texas tax credit information as required under the agreement with Rodriguez’s company [and] defendants have also failed and refused to provide the required budget information to Overnight Productions so that it can determine the producer fee owed with respect to the sequel.”
Filming is already complete on the sequel, which was picked up for distribution by Open Road Films just last month and sees Danny Trejo returning as the hard-as-nails former Mexican Federale in order to stop an arms dealer from launching a deadly weapon into space. Jessica Alba (Sin City) and Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious) also reprise their roles from the original, while other cast members include Sofía Vergara (Modern Family), Amber Heard (Zombieland), Antonio Banderas (Desperado), Alexa Vega (Spy Kids), Vanessa Hudgens (Sucker Punch), Demián Bichir (A Better Life), William Sadler (The Green Mile), Cuba Gooding Jr (Jerry Maguire), Charlie Sheen (Anger Management) and Mel Gibson (Braveheart), along with pop sensation Lady Gaga in her acting debut.
Machete Kills is expected to arrive in cinemas some time in Spring 2013, and with both parties likely to see a solid financial return on the sequel, look for these legal troubles to be resolved pretty quickly.
Originally published November 23, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
