OLIVIA MARNE
Overnight Productions, the producers of “Machete”, are suing to prevent release of Robert Rodriguez’s sequel, “Machete Kills!”.
According to Deadline, “Overnight Productions today said it wants to cut ties with Robert Rodriguez’s Quick Draw Productions over the rights to Machete Kills. If successful, the court action could stop the release of the film – which Open Road acquired for distribution from Quick Draw last month. In documents filed Tuesday (read it here), the producers of 2010’s Machete are seeking to terminate the April 2012 agreement in which they granted director/producer Rodriguez the rights to make another action movie about the rogue Mexican Federale. The rights would revert back to Rick Schwartz’s Overnight. In the breach of contract and declaratory relief complaint, the Plaintiffs they “have been damaged in an amount to be proven at the time of trial”, but which they believe “exceeds $2 million”.”
Ouch! That’s kinda messy!
Obviously this will all be worked out and “Machete Kills!” will see the light of day, and in the Spring of 2013, but not before some serious cash has swapped hands.
Deadline reiterates that it’s all about money.
“Today’s filing is all about money – tax credits and producer’s fees to be specific. Overnight claims that earlier this month they were not provided with Texas tax credit information as required under the agreement with Rodriguez’s company. And then there is the matter of Schwartz’s fee. “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”. The plaintiffs estimate that they are owed in excess of $250,000 in this aspect of their legal action.”
“Machete Kills!”, which is supposed to be the second part of a trilogy, stars Danny Trejo in the title role with appearances by Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Sofia Vergara and Michelle Rodriguez, to name but a few.
Rodriguez is going to have to start writing cheques.
