The death of creativity in Hollywood is something that gets bemoaned on a daily, hell, hourly basis. But Danny Trejo is here to put a stop to such negative vibes. His straight to DVD hit, Bad Ass already stood as a testament to the human imagination, as writer/director Craig C. Moss took an internet meme about 3 minute long altercation on a bus and somehow, through the magical powers of Danny Trejo’s mean mug, spun a full length feature film out of it.
And now, to prove his creativity well is definitely not tapped, he’s going to make another one!
For those of you who have just recently joined the internet (pro-tip: don’t visit 4chan), lets catch you up to speed. Back in 2010, a video was uploaded showing one Thomas Bruso aka “Epic Beard Man”, a 67-year old war veteran, packing a fanny pack and a “I am a Motherf@#$er!” t-shirt, getting into an argument on a bus with a cocky young whippersnapper named Michael. The cause of the argument is unknown, and actually not all that important. What is important is Michael’s horrible pronunciation and the fact that against expectation the young Michael ended up getting his grasp of the English language beat right out of him by a man nearly thrice his age. The combination of these things immediately turned it into an internet hit.
What nobody was expecting though, was that somebody would make a movie out of it. So when the story first broke – hell, still even after the first trailer came out – about Trejo starring as Epic Beard Man facsimile Frank Vega who turns his violent run-in on the bus into just the first step to becoming a neighbourhood vigilante, people thought it was some kind of fake Grindhouse-style trailer. But then it actually released on DVD/Blu Ray and VOD, and apparently enough of you went and bought it to justify them making a sequel.
Moss returns to direct off his own script which will once again see Trejo as Vega, but according to Bloody Disgusting he will now be teaming up with another grumpy old man named Bernie. The pair will apparently be joining forces to teach some youngsters a lesson courtesy of their fists, after one of their pals, Manny gets gunned down by drug dealers who can’t be brought to justice through conventional means due to their diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic Immunity? Please let Bernie be played by either Mel Gibson or Danny Glover!
There have been no casting announcements for either the role of Manny or Bernie, but it’s been confirmed that The Last Exorcism star Patrick Fabian will be reprising his role of Office Malark from the first film. BD also indicates that the sequel may possibly also be called Bad Asses, though nothing is confirmed yet. Personal, I would have gone with Bad Ass 2: Bad Asser.
And for comparison purposes, here’s the original clip that inspired everything (warning: a bit NSWF for strong language) as well as the trailer for Bad Ass itself.
Bad Asses starts shooting next month in Los Angeles.
Last Updated: March 28, 2013
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
March 28, 2013 at 11:08
Holy crap! I’m actually speechless, yet strangely intrigued.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
March 28, 2013 at 11:20
By the way, it later emerged that the “young whippersnapper” isn’t actually young but rather a mere 17 years younger than the crusty old bastard (Michael is actually 50).
And since the internet is a strange place, it also emerged that while Bruso was initially portrayed as the valiant victim fighting for the rights of the elderly against the onslaught of an “urban youth”.. Bruso was actually the instigator and a known “shit-stirring” crazed salted-dog (there’s another video of him causing funk at a baseball match and then getting the snot tazed out of him by security staff).
But.. Danny TREJO!