Zoe Saldana joins the cast of Machete 2

Actor Danny Trejo’s next project is Machete Kills, the follow-up to 2010’s Machete, and during a recent interview the actor revealed that Star Trek’s Zoe Saldana will be joining him (and kissing him) in the sequel. Details over the fold.

 

Zoe cuts in to Machete 2

Machete Kills, the sequel to the 2010 action film Machete, begins filming in less than a month, but this is the first time Star Trek’s Zoe Saldana has been mentioned as part of the cast. The film is being produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez and once again stars Danny Trejo. In a new interview with Moviehole.net, Trejo let the Saldana news spill, saying

“The sequel to Machete, Machete Kills is going to be a lot more over-the-top than Machete. We’ve got Sofia Vergara, who is a star in her own right, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and Zoe Saldana – and guess what? I get to kiss all of ‘em.”


Poster for "Machete" – Zoe Saldana on board for the sequel

Before 2013’s Star Trek sequel hits theaters, Zoe’s next film is the romantic drama The Words, about a "writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work." The Words is scheduled to hit theaters this September 21.

Zoe is also filming two other projects: Blood Ties (release date TBA) and Out of the Furnace (2013). Zoe will also reprise her role as Neytiri in Avatar 2, which is expected to hit theaters in 2015. But with films like The Losers, Columbiana, and now Machete Kills, Saldan seems to gravitate more and more to action movies these days.


Zoe in last year’s "The Losers"

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Why?

Shesh, her star appears to be falling now. Too bad.

What are you two talking about? Robert Rodriguez movies are FUN!

Zoe is really busy now isn’t she? Finished Star Trek, now onto another set!

>Shesh, her star appears to be falling now. Too bad.

Yeah, because “Star Trek” is high art! lol Wow, some real movie snobs here.

Machete was a pure sendup of the ultra violent, grind house / action star genre, and it was bloody hilarious.

Only if she gets totally *&#%! will I go to see this one.

Falling star?

Lol.

Correction: “The Losers” actually came out in 2010.

I think Danny Trejo would be awesome as a Klingon!

Uhhh she isn’t doing any more action films at this point in her career than she has previously.
so not really sure how she is gravitating more towards action films

Name one successful movie she has done besides Trek and Avatar?

Don’t get me wrong, I think she is a great actress. But her agent must be a shit-for-brains moron based on the parts she has been getting the past 2 years. She should be a rising star, but these bad choices in taking parts are holding her career in nuetral.

#10.

“The Losers” was alright. Not bad, but not great. Saldana was good in it though.

But I agree, so far her best outings have been in “Avatar” and “Star Trek”.

Her best performance in any movie has been as Neytiri in “Avatar”.

10 yeah because getting your client booked on a movie in which she is working opposite of Mel Gibson, Jessica Alba, and Sophia Vergara is such a bone head thing to do .

I still laugh at the trekmovie article a few weeks back that said Machette Kills was a “Indie movie of some sort”

i am surprised to no article yet about star treks june 29th replacement GI joe being pushed back to next march, just a month from its release date.

#12.

Well, Mel Gibson is a douchebag. No reason why somebody like Zoe Saldana (who isn’t desperate; she’s part of two big franchises) needs to tarnish her dignity for.

@15. Yea, such a Jerk, but yet some of my favorite movies of all time are ones he has done. Got to seperate the person from the movie.

“Machete”, “Machete”,”Machete”! Have to admit this was a guilty pleasure of mine. So stupid and so fun. And Jessica Alba was great to look at. The ridiculous over the top violence is not as painful as a scene watching her awkwardly tying to cook for Danny Trejo.

I dont think her star is fading,she already has some critical acclaimed films under her belt.

I also dont think that you need to be in a movie that makes lots of money to proof you are a big star.

some actors do prefer low budget films that gets great reviews and lots of BAFTA’s,Golden Globe and Oscars recognition to movies that are crap but does well at the box office.

wow MORE over the top than Machete??! This i gotta see, loved Machete

Trejo should be Khan

15
well the fact that roman polanski is a pedophile child rapist, who fled the country doesnt tarnsih the careers of people who act in his films.

so i seriously doubt acting opposite of mel gibson is going to tarnish Zoe’s career.

like MJ said you have to seperate the man from the movies.

@ 21

First, I wonder what part Mel Gibson is going to play. In the first Machete, Robert De Nirro went over-the -top to play a racist politician. Probably wouldn’t require any acting for Gibson to play a racist. I keeed. I keeed.

Second, I wonder if Gibson is so toxic that he effects box office. It would help his career if he would just apologize for the terrible things he’s said.

Of course, Machete is a homage to the drive in movies of the sixties and seventies. If you’ve seen Grindhouse, it’s an extrapolation of the fake trailers in that movie.

When I saw it, the end credits ran news of a sequel Let me set up the joke. The first Machete had a gigantic body count. If you like dismemberment, Machete was for you. So the end credits ran the titles of the sequels. “Machete Kills.” “Machete KIlls Again.” I laughed out loud.

So this sequel, I’m guessing it’s going to be as funny. It probably will have lots of stupid over-the top action to make me smile. And remember everybody, “Machete don’t text.”

Good luck to Zoe and the rest of the cast. I haven’t seen Machete, and I don’t know about this one, but I’m going to be watching The Words and Avatar 2. I’m glad she’s getting so much work. That’s great.

@18 “I dont think her star is fading,she already has some critical acclaimed films under her belt.”

Funny then that you didn’t respond to my challenge to name one???

She will also be in “The Knife 3”, “The spoon”, “The revolver” and “the tank”. But of course we all just want to see her in “The bomb and the nightmare” and in “Die so hard you just can´t wait”.

My oh my. She is a great actress and I really like her, but I assume, “The machette” will not be a movie where she can really show her talent…

#25 – Actually, MJ, your challenge was about “successful” films she’s been in, not necessarily critically acclaimed films. In fact, you specifically asked for just ONE film besides Trek and Avatar.

She was in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, which was (1) successful and (2) critically acclaimed. So there’s your challenge, successfully met on both counts.

Also, she’s in the Trek sequel and she’s sure to be in at least Avatar 2, so she’s got at least two more blockbusters ahead of her. Whether they’ll be acclaimed is unknown, but that’ll boost her to at least 5 major blockbusters, 3 of which are proven crowd pleasers. One of her films resurrected a franchise, the other two spawned franchises. So, she’s in three of the most successful franchises in film history.

So…where’s that falling star, exactly?

But then again, you said her star is falling, which seems to contradict your claim that she has only Trek and Avatar as successes. If those are her only successes, then her star can hardly be falling, can it? After all, one’s star must rise high before it can fall, but you’re pointing out that she’s only had a couple of successes, so…

…how could her star be falling?

She was good in Death at a Funeral which was a very funny movie. She’s so far been better in ensemble films. Colomdiana was only so-so.

welcome to MJMovie.com. [rolleyes]

Zoe’s career is doing just fine, I’m sure when she needs advice from an internet blowhard she will look MJ up.

Dang, Danny Trejo gets to kiss them all? Holy crap in a hat, what a lucky bastard.

I’ve like Zoe since I saw her in “Drumline,” which, though it’s a predictable story, was told well, and the characterizations were great. Talented cast!

With “Machete Kills,” I’m sure Zoe’s going to have a bit of fun. Nothing wrong with that.

And if it turns out to be a snoozer, well, Zoe’s career won’t be over. Michael Caine is just as famous for his great movies as for all the bad movies he was in, and he never stopped working. Now he’s an icon. Go figure.

“Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and Zoe Saldana” :o))) I would like to see Emma Watson in it now, could prove interesting

#16, 21.

You guys make some good points. Though recent Mel Gibson flicks haven’t done well at the box office.

#27.

Saldana might have been in “Pirates of The Carribean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl” but that was in a supporting role. She was in the film for only a couple of minutes.

I think MJ was talking about movies where Zaldana has a major role.

@27. Fair enough, but as I said in a later post, her career is in neutral, at best. You really can’t say that her star is rising.

@29 “Zoe’s career is doing just fine, I’m sure when she needs advice from an internet blowhard she will look MJ up.”

“It’s his revenge for all those arguments he lost”

:-)

Should be awesome.

I saw “Machete” and while it was pretty good (a hilarious, scathing spoof on US immigration policies), I’m not sure it warrants a sequel. Danny Trejo was great in it (nice to see him get a lead after years of memorable supporting roles but so help me, he looks like Edward James Olmos’ evil brother). I’ll take the ‘wait and see’ approach with this one….

However, Saldana’s terrific; a very physical, gutsy actress. She’ll do well in it, no matter if it’s necessary or not. But I really think that she needs to flex her dramatic chops in more non-action roles, too….

37 RR had planned to do at minimum 3 machete movies before the first one was even released. what started out as a joke trailer for Grindhouse, ended up being one the most popular things aboutthe QT//RR double feature. once he began production on the actual movie, he said he wanted to atleast do a trilogy and if by the time “Machete Kills Again” comes out there is still an audience he will make another.

# 37

I can understand his desire to make a trilogy out of it, but for me personally? It doesn’t really seem to have enough gas to make it happen. I don’t recall it being that big a hit really (perhaps relative to it’s budget it was). So maybe it’s just me, but I thought that, as action/parodies go? It was average.

Not sure this is a good move for her.

I haven’t even heard of Machete 1! This can’t be a big franchise.