Robert Rodriguez Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Andrew Barker Senior Features Writer Things have always been bigger in Texas. And thanks to some recently passed legislation, Texas film production is finally primed to take on a role befitting the state’s reputation. After years of watching productions opt for more incentive-rich states, Texas has been home to an immense amount of film and TV shooting over the past two years, with HBO’s “Love and Death,” Paramount’s “Yellowstone,” Apple TV+’s “The Last Thing He Told Me,” the CW’s “Walker,” Netflix’s “Hypnotic” and the Houston-set series “Mo” all setting up shop in the Lone Star state. And the floodgates look set to open even further with the recent legislative passage of $200 million in state shooting incentives, a sharp increase from the $45 million the state offered previously.

Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “Fast X” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £5.8 million ($7.3 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In second place, Disney’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” continued its strong run in the territory, adding £2.8 million in its third weekend for a total of £28.9 million. In its seventh weekend, Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” earned £544,283 in third position for a total of £51.8 million. Lionsgate’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” debuted in fourth place with £327,197. Rounding off the top five was another debut, Sony’s “Beau Is Afraid,” with £231,370. The other debut in the top 10 was Trafalgar Releasing’s “Don Giovanni – Met Opera 2023,” which bowed in ninth position with £99,842.

Ben Affleck got good notes on his new film,, from some of his harshest critics — his kids!«My kids constantly make fun of me, and they won't watch any of my movies, but I showed them some clips from this and my daughter was like, 'That actually looks kind of interesting!'» the actor and director admitted in ET's exclusive look behind-the-scenes of the upcoming thriller. «So I thought that was the best review that I could get, and I hope audiences come away from it having really enjoyed the movie.»Affleck shares three kids with his ex wife, Jennifer Garner — Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11 — but when it comes to, that's the brainchild of writer-director Robert Rodriguez, who wrote the first pass of the script all the way back in 2002.The film stars Affleck as Austin police detective Danny Rourke, who goes searching for his abducted daughter only to uncover a secret government division of «hypnotics,» powerful hypnotists trained to control people's minds. An acclaimed director himself, Affleck praised Rodriguez's «bold» style in the thriller, noting that he used directorial techniques from both modern and classic suspense films to craft a movie that feels like «old fashioned filmmaking, that relied on the story and told the story in a certain style.»«He really wanted to do a kind of homage to Hitchcock,» he continued.

Director Robert Rodriguez has always been inspired by the likes of director Alfred Hitchcock, particularly the Master of Suspense’s mistaken identity features like “North by Northwest” and “The Wrong Man.” But it was the 1958 film “Vertigo” and its story of a police detective (James Stewart) being drawn into a mysterious world involving two women who look the same (played by Kim Novak) that inspired Rodriguez’s latest feature, the noirish feature “Hypnotic.” “What I loved about the idea was it reminded me of what we do as filmmakers without making a movie about filmmaking,” Rodriguez told TheWrap. “This would be a cool way to make a movie about filmmaking because it’s what we do. We create a hypnotic construct for the audience to buy into and invest in emotionally.” Like Hitchcock’s film, “Hypnotic” follows a police officer, played by Ben Affleck, lured into a world of mentalists, including that of a woman named Diana (Alice Braga).

In today’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo gets hypnotized by Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado,” “Sin City,” “The Book of Boba Fett”). The prolific writer/producer/director is currently promoting his latest film, “Hypnotic,” which follows a detective (Ben Affleck) who relentlessly pursues a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.

It’s crazy to think that it’s been more than 30 years since the release of “El Mariachi,” the film by Robert Rodriguez that put him on the scene. And it was a quick ascension for the filmmaker, as he’d go on to direct “Desperado,” “From Dusk till Dawn,” and “The Faculty” in quick succession shortly after.

As the lead-up to the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival gets underway, so too does the film market at the festival. And Black Bear International will have a very enticing project for sale on the Croisette: “Shell,” a thriller starring Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, and Kaia Gerber.

The 76th Festival de Cannes already had a jury president in two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlünd. It now has eight more members to fill out its jury.

Producers White Lantern Film and SMC Speciality Finance have responded to losing a high court case against actress Eva Green in the UK over the collapse of their sci-fi pic A Patriot.

Actress Eva Green has won her high court case in the UK against White Lantern and SMC Speciality Finance over the collapse of the sci-fi film A Patriot.

EXCLUSIVE: In her first statement following the conclusion of her court case over the collapse of the sci-fi pic A Patriot, Eva Green has criticized the press for its misreporting during the trial and said she was “forced to stand up to a small group of men” who tried to use her as a scapegoat.

EXCLUSIVE: Nick Nesbitt has been upped to Vice President of on the Studio Film Team at Netflix.

is at it again in the latest episode of the podcast she co-hosts with her older brother, Ryan Trainor. During the episode, the went into detail—perhaps too much detail—about her sex life with husband . Essentially, she wishes that she could shrink his penis because it is just too big. Trainor has been married to the Spy Kids star since 2018.

COMPETITION“Black Flies” (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)“LE RETOUR“Le Retour” (Catherine Corsini)CANNES PREMIÈRE“Perdidos en la Noche” (Amat Escalante)“L’Amour et les Forets” (Valérie Donzelli)“Eureka” (Lisandro Alonso)OUT OF COMPETITION“L’abbe Pierre – Une Vie de Combats” (Frédéric Tellier)UN CERTAIN REGARD“Only the River Flows” (Wei Shujun)“Une Nuit” (Alex Lutz)The film will be screened Out of Competition – Closing Un Certain RegardSHORT FILM“Filles du Feu” (Pedro Costa)SPECIAL SCREENINGS“Little Girl Blue” (Mona Achache)“Bread and Roses” (Sahra Mani)“Le Theoreme de Marguerite” (Anna Novion)MIDNIGHT SCREENING“Hypnotic” (Robert Rodriguez)“Project Silence” (Kim Tae-gon)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies” starring Sean Penn, and Catherine Corsini’s “Le retour” have been added to the competition lineup of the upcoming 76th Cannes Film Festival. As many as 13 movies have been peppered across several sections, including the competition, special screening, Un Certain Regard and out of competition. Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” and Kim Tae-gon’s “Project Silence” are joining the Midnight Screening roster, while Amat Escalante’s Mexican drama “Perdidos en la Noche” and Argentinian helmer Lisandro Alonso’s thriller “Eureka” starring Viggo Mortensen and José María Yazpik, will bow at Cannes Premiere, a non-competitive section launched in 2021. Alonso previously won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his 2014 movie “Jauja.” Also slated for Cannes Premiere is Valerie Donzelli’s drama “L’Amour et les forets.”

A little under two weeks ago, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its lineup for the upcoming event. However, as we know with film festivals, the initial lineup is far from complete and more films can be added at any time.

The Cannes Film Festival has announced a raft of new additions to the Official Selection of its 76th edition running May 16 to 27.

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Entertainment attorney Craig Emanuel, Variety’s 2023 Power of Law honoree, remembers the day he got a phone call asking if he would be interested in meeting with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.  “I knew that they were meeting with a lot of lawyers around town, and I really didn’t think we were going to get selected,” says Emanuel. “A lot of the other law firms were boutique entertainment firms that had huge client lists.” “Months went by, and I thought, you know, nothing’s happening,” Emanuel continues. “And then Richard Lovett, president of CAA, who reps Tom and Rita, called me one evening on the phone. I was at dinner with my partners, and Richard said, ‘I’ve got some good news, you have a new client.’”

Sony’s Screen Gems has moved up the domestic release for its rom-com Love Again, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion as herself, from May 12th to May 5th.

“Air,” the first film from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s Artist Equity banner, closes SXSW in Austin this year to much anticipation.

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off a surprise “work in progress” screening at SXSW, Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, has been set for a May 12 U.S. release.

The idea for Hypnotic conceptualized around the time director Robert Rodriguez was filming Spy Kids 2, which is what he told the audience at Sunday night’s premiere screening. His love of Austin and SXSW is what brought him back 30 years after El Mariachi. This was a full-circle moment for him, and he revealed that is this film is a work in progress. After watching it, Hypnotic still needs work in order to progress because this is all over the place. Written by Rodriguez (who also provided the score) and Matt Borenstein, the pic stars Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, William Fichtner, Jeff Fahey and Dayo Okeniyi.

Robert Rodriguez didn’t want to screen his new movie for the first time on the same night as the Oscars. It just worked out that way. It all started when, in mid-February, the 54-year-old filmmaker realized he was rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of his first feature film, the neo-Western “El Mariachi.” “It fucking snuck up on me,” Rodriguez tells Variety on Sunday afternoon, sitting on a hotel rooftop bar overlooking the ever-changing Austin skyline. Rodriguez famously shot “El Mariachi” on a $7,000 budget, and its success helped to catalyze the independent film revolution of the 1990s and reinforce Rodriguez’s conviction to continue his DIY, homegrown approach to filmmaking. Almost all of Rodriguez’s films have been made at least in part out of his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, from his R-rated action films like 1998’s “The Faculty,” 2005’s “Sin City” and 2010’s “Machete” to his family movies franchises “Spy Kids” and “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” Even 2019’s “Alita: Battle Angel,” the James Cameron-produced action epic with visual effects work by Weta Digital, was shot at Troublemaker.

Though it boasts a few clever ideas and exciting set pieces, Rodriguez's latest falters for the same reason his films usually do: a flimsy script.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Don’t trust anything you see or hear in “Hypnotic,” a noggin-jogging thriller with more twists than Minnie’s tightly braided ponytail. Who’s Minnie? She’s the girl who goes missing in the movie’s opening scene, while police detective dad Daniel Rourke (Ben Affleck) looks away for a second. Or does she? Depending how your mind works, there’s a chance Minnie doesn’t even exist. The perp was caught, but Minnie’s body was never found — which is a clue that this wasn’t a typical disappearance. Your typical popcorn-munching multiplex patron would never suspect how deep this Russian-doll mystery goes. Better to strap in and go along for the ride in the latest example of creativity-within-constraints from resourceful writer-director Robert Rodriguez. Taking a page from “The Matrix,” “Limitless” and “Memento” — along with whole chapters from sci-fi trickster Philip K. Dick — this slick mix of special effects and practical ingenuity puts Affleck in a fun position, and the slightly grizzled star’s still got the clench-jawed charisma to pull it off.

The Oscars didn’t rain on Robert Rodriguez’s parade tonight as the filmmaker debuted his long-in-the-works Hypnotic at SXSW’s Paramount Theatre, with crowds being turned away.

TriStar Pictures has acquired Spyglass Media Group‘s “Thanksgiving,” a full-length slasher film inspired by the fake trailer from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse,” according to an insider with knowledge of the project.Roth is attached to direct the horror thriller film. “Thanksgiving” is co-written by Roth and Jeff Rendell, with Roger Birnbaum, Roth and Rendell producing.Chatter has existed about turning the jokey trailer into an actual movie, with Roth having written a screenplay over a dozen years ago.

The Mandalorian has finally returned to screens, taking fans on more adventures through the Star Wars universe. The hit Disney+ series – created by filmmaker John Favreau – follows lone bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) as he becomes the adoptive father figure of a little green critter called Grogu – AKA Baby Yoda.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer One of Austin’s hometown filmmakers is bringing his next movie to SXSW. Director Robert Rodriguez will screen a work-in-progress cut of his crime thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck, for fans at the SXSW Film Festival in the Texas capital on March 12. In the film, written by Rodriguez and Max Borenstein (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”), Affleck plays a detective who is investigating a series of inexplicable crimes while searching for his missing daughter, whose disappearance is somehow involved with a secret government program.

Producers Guild Awards have revealed its presenters list for the 34th annual awards show, which will take place Saturday at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.Kate Hudson, Angela Bassett, Austin Butler, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Williams, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Ron Howard and Sandra Oh lead the notable star-studded list who will take the stage to present at the PGA Awards.Additionally, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Billy Eichner, Bob Odenkirk, Danielle Deadwyler, Dave Burd, Diego Luna, Eugenio Derbez, Hannah Einbinder, Hong Chau, Jay Ellis, Kerry Condon, Leslie Odom, Jr., Mo Amer, Monica Barbaro, Nicole Byer, Paul Dano, Robert Rodriguez, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sherry Lansing and Stephanie Hsu will also present throughout the evening.The PGA Awards honors producers, industry leaders and their producing teams to celebrate the art and craft of producing by honoring the producers behind the top films, TV shows and new media projects of the past year. Previously announced honorees at this year's ceremony include Tom Cruise (David O. Selznick Award); Mindy Kaling (Norman Lear Award); Warner Bros.

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has revealed the presenters lineup for the 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards, to be held on Saturday, February 25, at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Addison Rae, scream queen? The TikTok star is expanding her film repertoire, joining the cast of director Eli Roth’s slasher “Thanksgiving.” Spyglass Media is backing the thriller, which follows a killer who visits a small town in Massachusetts with the hopes of creating a carving board out of the town’s turkey-loving inhabitants. The story is based on the fake trailer that Roth made 16 years ago for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse.” Rae confirmed the news, which was first reported by Deadline, on Instagram with the caption “Let’s eat.”

Addison Rae has her next big role, and it’s in a horror movie called Thanksgiving that has its roots in 2007′s Grindhouse.

There is a particular kind of audacity reserved for the wealthy and the well-meaning. Multi-award-winning actor and humanitarian Sean Penn co-directs “Superpower” with Aaron Kaufman, known mostly for his commercial work and his collaboration with writer-director Robert Rodriguez.

Patrick Dempsey is in talks with Spyglass to star in “Thanksgiving,” multiple media outlets have reported. Yes, that’s Eli Roth’s “Thanksgiving,” a violent slasher film based on the fake trailer from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse” from 16 years ago.  Chatter has existed about turning the jokey trailer into an actual movie, with Roth having written a screenplay over a dozen years ago.