Robert Rodriguez Talks SIN CITY 2 And Many, Many More Projects

The director talks Sin City 2, Machete Kills, Heavy Metal and some nonsense about 4D...

By Adam Lock / July 25, 2011

Robert Rodriguez in general, reminded me of one particular sketch from the show, I'm sure you remember it. It involved David Walliams as Matthew Waterhouse an inventor who pitches endless wacky ideas one after another to some unsuspecting business types. His catchphrase is Got another one, got another one. Sound familiar? Hollywoods very own Matthew Waterhouse, Robert Rodriguez chose 2011s Comic Con to offload an array of ideas, sequels, projects and plans that he has either in development or just ongoing in that head of his. First off Sin City 2, a film that the Texan auteur has been promising for way over half a decade now, for which he states Frank Miller has a completed script of, partly based on his story A Dame To Kill For, which would follow the structure of its predecessor the innovative 2005 hit Sin City with three connecting stories from the dark underbelly of Basin City. As he has been saying since 2006, the other half of the movie would be based on a completely new Sin City story conceived by Miller himself which we now know the title of - The Long, Bad Night". Says Rodriguez;

"The script is terrific; were still working on it, but there is a scenario where it could be shot as early as this year. If its going to happen, its going to happen this year. I had an idea for doing that in 3D in a way it hasnt been used before, which I think would translate really well to that format.

Rodriguez is mainly at the festival though to promote his one dimensional, no, 4D flick, Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World, which takes gimmickry to the next level with a scratch-and-sniff system (dont ask). He also mentioned the Machete sequel Machete Kills has been green lit due to successful DVD sales. Rodriguez went on to talk about Machete Kills Again, which hopefully will only make it to the fake trailer stage, which was pitched as a space opera with a machete-shaped lightsaber, (no seriously dont ask). On a brighter note, Rodriguez will be launching his latest company Quick Draw Productions with the long gestating Heavy Metal project, a series of films based on the fantasy magazine, which would allow differing directors the chance to sink their teeth into the cult sci-fi world.

At previous Comic Cons it was David Fincher who was planning to unleash an animated version of the mag as a big screen movie but it turns out the lengthy post-production on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button meant the rights expired before he had chance to make it. So now it falls to Rodriguez to see what he can do;

Heavy Metal was one of the reasons I was interested in Barbarella a few years back. I thought that might be my only chance to make a Heavy Metal-type movie. It always inspired me, and I just love the idea of artists from all over the world coming to show their best work. Theres something about the idea of Heavy Metal its bigger than what anyone has ever been able to do with it, whether in the movie or even the magazine.

The structure of the movie will be similar to Sin City with interconnecting stories and he is hoping some major directors will get involved;

Id probably direct one of the stories and maybe a wraparound, but utilize other filmmakers as well. That was always the great thing about Heavy Metal. Even the magazine or just the idea of it. It was many people coming together, So focus it on a few stories but have different people work on it so they could bring all their talent and their vision and just really bring it out, because thats what it really has to be. Were going to do them much quicker because we dont have the red tape of going through the studio. Thats what usually stalls these projects and why they take so long. It takes away the control of a filmmaker whos got the idea and says I want to start shooting this tomorrow. This cuts all that out.

One of those directors will likely be his close pal Quentin Tarantino who Rodriguez hopes to work together on another collaboration around the year 2016, ten years after Grindhouse. Furthermore, Rodriguez will be unveiling a Frank Frazetta museum in his home state, and there are talks of remaking the artists Fire And Ice movie. Tiring stuff right, I feel for Rodriguezs secretary. But as its widely known Mr. Prolific himself is constantly attached to or announces projects all the time, Sin City 2 has been 6 years in the making, and he was very nearly doing a Deadpool movie not so long ago, oh and a Barbarella remake too, so nothing is for certain. Whatever he ends up making though, I have to admit that what he's doing with production company Troublemaker Studios is very inspiring, bringing B-Movie to the masses and delivering cost effective hit after hit. If only more production companies had a specific niche then maybe cinema could expand its appeal.