Grindhouse (film) - Adaptations of Fake Trailers

Adaptations of Fake Trailers

In 2010, Rodriguez wrote and co-directed a feature-length adaptation of his fake trailer, Machete. All of the original actors from the trailer (save for the extras) returned to their posts for it. Machete turned out to be much more of a success at the box office than Grindhouse, grossing $44 million against a just-over $10 million budget. At the end of the film, the announcer says that there will be two sequels: Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again. Soon afterward, Rodriguez confirmed that the financing for the sequels was in place, and that once everyone was free, they could begin shooting.

The director of a trailer that played in some theaters in the United States and Canada (mainly the latter), Hobo with a Shotgun, Jason Eisener, also made a feature-length adaptation of it. Rutger Hauer replaced Dave Brunt as the titular character, though Brunt does make a cameo as a corrupt cop.

The adaptations received mainly positive reviews, with the general consensus being that they were cartoonishly enjoyable and gleefully violent homages to their reasons for being. Although Hobo with a Shotgun was not as big a box office success in the U.S. as it was in Canada, it has since gained a cult following there.

Recently, many of the other fake trailer directors have expressed interest in making their trailers into real films, including Edgar Wright and Eli Roth. Recently, Roth announced that he was making a different film, presumably meaning that the adaptation of Thanksgiving has been put on hold.