It has been three years since Robert Rodriguez turned his Grindhouse mock 70’s-style Mexploitation trailer Machete into a full-blown feature film that finally gave Danny Trejo, owner of one of the most unique movie star faces in the world, a starring role. Despite having only $10 million, Rodriguez nabbed a galaxy of rising stars and faded stars to back up Trejo and a fistful of positive reviews from B-movie geek fans and critics alike.

Machete earned over $14 million at the box office in its first weekend, but its earning potential quickly plummeted afterwards and by the time it left theaters, the movie had a total gross of $26 million. The end credits promised a forthcoming duo of insane sequels and since the original was profitable enough to warrant one so far, Rodriguez soon found himself at the helm of Machete Kills.

Remember way back in 2009 when very few of us knew who Tom Hardy was, when we found out that he would be taking the place of Mel Gibson as Mad Max in George Miller‘s fourth movie in the post-apocalyptic franchise, titled Mad Max: Fury Road.

The movie has been in the making for quite some time, indeed, and it’s not even being released until sometime in 2014. Hardy has become one a superstar in that time, and only continues to grow, which can only mean very good things for the new Mad Max flick.

Today comes out first peek at Hardy as Mad Max from the movie. It’s a picture he signed for one of the crew members, that was later confirmed by Warner Brothers to be an authentic Max shot. You can see the image below!

We all have to grow up some time and former Spy Kids star Alexa Vega has been doing a lot of growing up recently. She stars in Robert Rodriguez‘s Machete Kills as a femme fatale-like character named Killjoy – seems appropriate for this kind of movie. While she previously posted a picture of herself before shooting her scene, the photo below is the first official image of her on set.

Check it out the photo here below, and make sure your boss or significant other isn’t around (no, no there is no nudity).

Vega is now 24, and obviously she has really grown up to be a very sexy mature young woman. Hard to believe that she was that young child in those silly Spy Kid films. She revealed the new image of herself on her instagram account.

OK, so it should come as no surprise that unexpected actors are being announced for the cast of the upcoming sequel, Machete Kills. Director Robert Rodriguez is known for putting together sometimes strange and always intriguing casts, and it always seems to work out quite well. The very same is expected here.

In the same way that he’s announced other casting news, such as Charlie Sheen playing the President of the United States, Rodriguez took to the Twitter to announce that pop music star Lady Gaga will also have a part in the sequel.

Gaga will play someone named La Chameleon, which is assumed to be a small role as the performer has apparently already filmed her scenes. Along with the announcement, Rodriguez also released a poster of Gaga in character. You can check that out below.

The extended cut of Roland Emmerich‘s American Revolutionary War drama The Patriot is on sale on Blu-ray for only $9.47 (that’s 65% off the list price of $26.99). The Blu-ray contains the extended cut of the 2000 film, which stars Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger, along with bonus featurettes “The Art of War” and The True Patriots.

Some other Blu-ray deals for this week:

– Stand By Me (25th Anniversary Edition) – $9.99
– Dr. Strangelove – $9.99
– A Passage to India – $9.99
– Tommy (The Who) – $9.99

Here’s some continuing Blu-ray deals:

– Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Skynet Edition – $5.22
– Independence Day – $7.99
– Batman Begins – $10.02
– Stargate (15th Anniversary Edition) – $5.96
– Predator (Ultimate Hunter Edition) – $10.06
– My Cousin Vinny – $9.99