Deadline Hollywood Daily‘s Nikki Finke is reporting that bidding for the distribution rights to Robert Rodriguez’s next movie, the independently-financed Machete, expanding upon the fake trailer created for Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse experiment, has ended with 20th Century Fox winning out over five other studios for the rights to distribute it.
Danny Trejo returns in the title role, surrounded by a number of big stars including Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez. Robert Rodriguez wrote and produced the movie with financing from Rick Schwartz’s Overnight Productions, and directed it with co-director Ethan Maniquis.
According to the report, the six studios were shown roughly 15 to 30 minutes of footage with the price set at $9 million with a healthy profit sharing from the film’s theatrical and back-end grosses. Those who read ComingSoon.net regularly know that Fox was already working with Rodriguez on relaunching the “Predator” franchise, even calling the upcoming summer release Robert Rodriguez’s Predators. While the Weinstein Company had the first look rights for the movie due to their long involvement with Rodriguez, the Machete deal included a production deal with Rodriguez, so one can probably assume that Fox will be the filmmaking pioneer’s new home.
