Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film an unrated wide release, and we’ve since learned that they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. But before the new movie makes its way out into the world, Troma will be unveiling Mr. Melvin, a reconstruction of their original plan for their 1989 films The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie. You can watch a trailer for the reconstruction in the embed above.
The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie were written and shot to be just one movie, but directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz ended up with so much footage on their hands that they decided to turn it into two movies. They had plenty to work with: The Toxic Avenger Part II has a running time of 96 minutes (or 103 minutes in its directors’ cut form) and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie has a running time of 102 minutes. Andrew L. Miller and Adam Peltier unearthed the original screenplay for the Toxic Avenger sequel and cut the existing footage together to match the script. Resulting in Mr. Melvin, which covers the events of Part II and Part III but wraps up in 127 minutes.
The Mr. Melvin cut will premiere as part of Troma-Thon 2025 at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania on July 18-19. Tickets to the event can be purchased at THIS LINK. The movie will also be screening at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on August 8. (Get tickets HERE.)
Are you interested in seeing Mr. Melvin? What do you think of The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie being cut together into one two-hour movie? Take a look at the trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
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