Given that the festival takes place in his home city, it’s no surprise that filmmaker Robert Rodriguez took part in the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. Rodriguez took the opportunity to provide another update on his production company Quickdraw Productions and the many projects he currently has in development. In addition to touting the launch of Quickdraw Animation (two animated feature films, Heavy Metal and a family film, are already in development), Rodriguez gave a status report on the long-promised Sin City 2 and the Machete follow-up Machete Kills, saying both projects are poised to go into production this year. Hit the jump for more.

Rodriguez gave a big “Quickdraw Productions” update at last year’s Comic-Con, promising sequels for Sin City and Machete and announcing that he’s working on bringing Heavy Metal to the screen (for which he now says has a finished script and is moving into the storyboard phase). He announced that he has two sequels for Machete planned: Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again. At SXSW (per THR), Rodriguez said that Machete Kills is on track to start shooting this April. The plot apparently has Machete tasked with taking down a madman cartel leader and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war across the planet with a weapon in space. So, you know, Danny Trejo slicing and dicing space-obsessed uber villains should make for a good time.

Sin City 2 is a project that’s been “in development” for quite a while. We first heard about the prospect of a follow-up soon after the first film hit theaters in 2005. Numerous casting rumors have floated around over the years (Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie), but Rodriguez says the film is finally poised to shoot this summer. We know the plot involves three separate stories from Frank Miller: A Dame to Kill For and two new ones that have yet to be announced. Oscar-winning The Departed screenwriter William Monahan did a pass on the script, and with years and years of development hopefully the wait will be well worth it. No cast has been announced as of yet, but Rodriguez confirmed that the cast of both Machete Kills and Sin City 2 “will be of the same caliber and eclecticism as the first films.”

While Machete Kills has Danny Trejo attached and other aspects that lead me to believe filming will actually start in April, I’m less optimistic about Sin City 2. We’ve been promised movement on the follow-up for years now with little-to-nothing by way of actual development. It is promising to hear that a script has come to fruition, so I don’t think a 2012 start date is out of the question, but I’m not holding my breath.