Robert Rodriguez is going back to the very successful and lucrative preteen movie well. At an SXSW press conference for his much-anticipated film Predators, he revealed that he’ll be rebooting the Spy Kids franchise. According to The Playlist, Rodriguez explained it’ll be set 10 years in the future. He added, “Let's revitalize it with a new cast and some amazing kids and that maybe doesn't sound as good as it sounds, but when you read the script it's very funny. It's not like we're going back to the well for a fourth time. It feels actually completely new.” Rodriguez will direct the reboot as his next project, and in doing so, has abandoned any chance of directing the planned Jetsons film, to which he was previously attached.
Rodriguez has shown he can take almost any movie genre (Western, horror, action, kids action, crime thriller) and make it a success. Rebooting Spy Kids, while seemingly an odd choice, means Rodriguez will work in a more advanced form of 3-D than his previous attempts (Spy Kids, Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl). And say what you want about the Spy Kids series; it’s been generally well received among critics and box office cash registers alike.
As much as I would have liked to see a Rodriguez-directed reimagining of Cosmo G Spacely or Astro the Dog, going back to something that’s been successful in the past is a no-brainer for a director who just makes movies work.
