Harry Potter is still top of the UK Box Office. Quel surprise.

The Boy who Lived dropped 55% to take £8.3m for a solid second weekend. That's £14k per screen, by the way. The new releases this week had a scatter-shot impact, all fighting for the rest of the UK's cinema space.

Unstoppable bagged second spot with a strong £1.7m, but London Boulevard was the closest after that, with just £577k.

Clooney got less love & 200 fewer screens than The Knightley, with The American taking £411k. That's Clooney's lowest opening since 2005's Good Night and Good Luck (a masterpiece that got £5k less when it was first released).

Anton Corbijn's arthouse thriller sadly took less than Due Date, but double that of The Girl with the Hornets' Nest. The final part of Momentum's Millennium Trilogy got only £219k, not helped by unfavourable reviews. But floppy hair topped floppy knives, as Machete scraped £90k way down in 10th place. To compare it to his previous Grindhouse effort, it barely beat Planet Terror's £80k, despite having 100 more screens.

It's been a cluttered week at the cinema, so it's no wonder than Rowling's wizard continues his spell of dominance. But if Danny Trejo, Lisbeth Salander, George Clooney & a train-wielding black man can't beat Potter, who can? Three weeks to Tron Legacy... 

How many times can you hear Danny Trejo say his name and still get excited? It turns out quite a bit.

The king of shooting people, shagging people and scaring them with his big knife, Trejo is on fine third-person form in Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse-inspired thriller.

"You could always text?" "Machete don't text."

(Machete sends text)

"I thought you didn't text!" "Machete improvises."

IS THERE NO END TO THIS B-MOVIE BRILLIANCE? He's like a Lolcat with a giant moustache.

Oh no! The Muppet Studios is now a run-down old building that no-one's interested in anymore! If only Jason Segel was around to save it with a brand new movie starring Danny Trejo, Paul Rudd, Chris Cooper and Amy Adams. Oh wait, HE IS.

That thought alone makes this Monday morning bearable. Even if one of the muppets does have an iPhone. More photos over at /Film.

Yes, you read that correctly: Danny Trejo is down for a film called Skinny Dip. With Michelle Rodriguez. But it's not what it sounds like. It is, in fact, what fans would have hoped for: a revenge thriller.

Yes, the two Machete co-stars are reuniting for a movie about a young woman who kills a policeman. Hopefully there'll be more dead bodies than that - after all, the director knows what Danny Trejo can do. He's his son.

Gilbert Trejo, 22 years of age, will be co-directing Skinny Dip with Frankie Lantina. It's great news for the Trejo family, especially given that Gilbert seems like a definite chip off Danny's block: he met De Niro when he was nine and promptly did a "you talkin' to me?" impression at him.

Meanwhile, fans of Danny and Michelle's Machete partnership can get excited: the end credits for Rodriguez's Grindhouse-spawned B-Movie features references for two Machete sequels. Naturally titled Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again.

Anyone less than satisfied with The Expendables can be happy with the latest news from of Robert Rodriguez's Machete. First shown to the world in a spoof Grindhouse trailer, Danny Trejo's bad-ass ex-Federale who loves his knives a little too much is looking every bit as angry in these sexy new posters. In case you're wondering, he carries 44 blades in that custom-made leather vest of his.

Playing on exploitation flicks with an unrivalled knowledge and passion, Rodriguez has proven his status as king of the B-Movie with the cast he's got lined up: Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez. That rivals Stallone's efforts any day. If not, there's always the sequence where Machete rappels down a wall using a dead guy's intestines.

The suitably sleazy international trailer is exciting enough, but there's nothing quite like a big picture of a hairy Mexican - and that's exactly what we've got with the film's grimy new quad. You can read on for the second poster, which is significantly less hairy. 

Machete is now out in the UK via Sony Pictures on Friday 26th November. Just in time for the holiday rush. This could be an even bigger family hit than Spy Kids. Check out the trailer over here.

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba
Certificate: TBC
Release Date: Friday 26th November

He looked like just another day laborer from the streets, and the perfect fall guy for a crooked political assassination. But he turned out to be Machete, a legendary ex-Federale with a deadly attitude and the skills to match.

Left for dead after clashing with notorious Mexican drug kingpin Torrez, Machete has escaped to Texas, looking to disappear and forget his tragic past. But what he finds is a web of corruption and deceit that leaves a bullet in a senator and Machete a wanted man.

Machete sets out to clear his name, fighting against ruthless businessman Booth, Von, a twisted border vigilante, and Sartana, a beautiful immigrations officer. Helping Machete even the odds are Luz, a sexy taco-truck lady with a rebellious spirit and revolutionary heart, and Padre, a priest who’s good with blessings, but better with guns. Carving a path of bullets, blood, and broken hearts, Machete’s quest ultimately leads him back to Torrez for an epic battle of revenge and redemption.

Or as Machete puts it: "They just f****d with the wrong Mexican."

Hot on the heels of the brilliant sci-fi fan-trash Predators, we're already getting another glimpse at the next mental Robert Rodriguez movie. Remember Machete? The former Mexican Federale who carries big f*** off knives? Well, forget that first trailerwe had and its wily pop at Arizona's immigration headlines, this new trailer is what you really want.

Presuming what you want is explosions, knives, Danny Trejo and women, you've got it in bucket-loads. Hamming up his Grindhouse spoof to 11, Rodriguez is clearly cutting loose with his wild tale of the betrayed Mexican mercenary, double-crossed when the job of bumping off Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) turns out to be a set-up.

As he's chased around the border by Jessica Alba's agent, Machete mans up for some payback. Joining him for revenge against drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal) are Michelle Rodriguez, recently incarcerated Lindsay Lohan, and - of course - his priest, played by Cheech Marin.

It's all hitting notes Rodriguez has played before, but with the look and feel of Desperado and El Mariachi running through the two-minute video, Machete is shaping up to be one hell of a ride. Whether that ride can last for two hours is another thing entirely.

Machete blows up UK cinemas on Friday 29th October. Check out the trailer at IGN, or read on for the full thing. Did we mention it had Danny Trejo in it?

Director: Nimrod Antal
Cast: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace
Certificate: 15
Trailers/Clips

"A slightly above-average actioner that tries to compensate for tissue-thin plot with ever-more-grisly death sequences and impressive special effects" - that was Variety back in 1987 on John McTiernan's original Predator. And it's a pretty accurate analysis. Undeveloped characters, non-existent story, over-the-top gore. Step in Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal, ready to give modern audiences more of the same. The result is one heck of a reboot. Remake. Sequel. Thing.

For all you folks who were like "who?" when Nimrod Antal's name came out of the hat, here's one to stick in your pipe: Laurence Fishburne. Yes, Laurence frickin' Fishburne has joined the cast of Antal's Predators - surprising, until you remember that they just completed a project together (Armored).

Robert Rodriguez is still overseeing this as producer, which is a wonderful sign, but with Adrien Brody and Danny Trejo on board, Antal's efforts are quite clear on one thing: this is going to be seriously bad ass. After all, once that band of people land on Planet Predator, only to discover nasty crap going on, all hell and dreadlocks will no doubt break loose. After all, this is Laurence Fishburne we're talking about. Morpheus. Versus. Predator. Now that's how you restart a franchise.