Spy Kids 4 Recruits Community‘s Joel McHale

Casting News, News

Joel McHale, star of NBC’s very funny sitcom Community and the television recap show The Soup, is in final negotiations to join the cast of Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World.

Variety is reporting McHale would star as a spy-hunting reporter in the Robert Rodriguez-directed sequel to his ’00s trilogy of children’s movies. McHale’s character would be married to previously announced cast member Jessica Alba, who is playing a retired spy turned housewife whose step-children will be the new generation of Spy Kids.

The Dimension Films-produced movie begins filming in 3D in Austin, Texas this month for a budget under $30 million. Cast members from the original series of films (including Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Antonio Banderas and Daryl Sabara) are rumored to return — more than likely for cameos. No word if the film will also see the return of Danny Trejo’s Machete character — who had his origins in the original 2001 Spy Kids movie.

I’m a huge Robert Rodriguez fanboy — to the extent where I actually enjoyed most of his children’s movies. The Spy Kids series are excessively silly and sometimes very, very stupid but they are beloved by their target audience — children. There’s nothing wrong with making a movie that panders to its target audience and that’s exactly what Rodriguez does with his kid’s movies.

Joel McHale is a very funny guy. I’d love to see what Robert Rodriguez has cooked up for him in the new installment of the Spy Kids series. I bet it’s going to involve either farts, boogers or a combination of the two.

Robert Saucedo is an avid movie watcher with seriously poor sleeping habits. The Mikey from Life cereal of film fans, Robert will watch just about anything — good, bad or ugly. He has written about film for newspapers, radio and online for the last 10 years. This has taken a toll on his sanity — of that you can be sure. Follow him on Twitter at @robsaucedo2500.