Updated: Rodriguez is Rebooting ‘Predator,’ Planning ‘Machete’

Published by Jeff Leins on April 24, 2009

Update: Release date announced and Rodriguez NOT directing Predators.

In January there were rumors flying that 20th Century Fox was planning to reboot the Predator franchise with Robert Rodriguez. After the ill will created by their own unwatchable Alien vs. Predator and AvP2 failures, it’s no wonder the studio wants to take the stealth monsters back to basics instead of pitting them against other science fiction franchises. Unfortunately, this means no Predator vs. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial movie.

According to Rodriguez himself, the rumors are true.  Here’s what he had to say to the IESB yesterday:
“I’m going to be able to shoot my upcoming Machete here, a sci-fi action film called Nerverackers, a re-boot of the Predator series called Predators, and a couple of smaller movies called Sin City 2 and The Jetsons.” The “smaller movies” bit was a joke.

So far the Predator movies have featured only one at a time of the alien race with dreadlocks and an affinity for hunting.  The announced restart will pit a brand new team of commandos against multiple predators!  Fox announced Friday it will hit theaters July 7, 2010.

Rodriguez and his Troublemaker Studios are merely producing the reboot of the series started in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura (they must have traded ideas about becoming governor).  With his packed schedule these days Rodriguez is unable to find time behind the camera to direct this.  He will oversee production while it films under a different, unnamed director.

As for the rest of the movies Rodriguez mentioned, here is the rundown:

Machete is an extended, feature film version of the fake trailer Rodriguez shot for Grindhouse, which played between his film (Planet Terror) and Tarantino’s Death Proof.  (It’s available here on YouTube in case you missed it.)

Danny Trejo starred as the character “Machete” who (as you might imagine) carries plenty of them strapped inside his jacket.  Apparently he also appeared in the Spy Kids movies (directed by Rodriguez), but I honestly avoided them.  Rodriguez wrote the script about the Mexican ex-Federale and is looking to film the movie this June here in Austin, TX.

(Eli Roth is also extending his mock trailer from Grindhouse, titled Thanksgiving, into a full-length movie.)

Nerverackers is a science fiction movie scheduled for release April 16, 2010.  “Set in 2085, the story centers on a character named Joe Tezca who is part of an elite unit dispatched to quell a crime wave in a theoretically perfect future society.”  Rodriguez wrote and will direct for Dimension Films.  There is still debate over whether the title is supposed to be plural or not.

Sin City 2 is still going through delays. The most recent news was Frank Miller’s estate may be shopping the sequel around to a new studio. No word on when it will go into production, if ever.

The Jetsons movie isn’t a joke.  Rodriguez is planning a live-action movie based on the popular cartoon family for Universal/WB.  Last we heard he had shot a few tests and was happy with the way the movie was looking.  He has been attached to the project since May 2007 and earlier this year it was pushed to a 2012 release.