by Brendon Connelly, Source: Bleeding Cool.com
Robert Rodriguez‘ Quickdraw Productions was first unveiled at Comic-Con last summer, but it’s with a certain amount predictability that he’s decided to give an update on this new filmmaking endeavor at SXSW, his “home festival.”
Indeed, he seems to have revealed an awful lot of new plans in a panel at the fest. Here are the bullet points.
- As well as live action films, Rodriguez is launching Quickdraw Animation, a separate company with its own funding and infrastructure
- One of those animated films is to be his Heavy Metal adaptation. It has already been scripted and is currently being storyboarded
- Another is a so-far secret family film, at a similar stage of its development
- Much of the actual animation on these projects is to be outsourced with just six to eight animators in house
- Rodriguez seems to think he can turn around animated projects much more quickly than is the norm. Sounds worrying
- He’s having another filmmaking competition
- Apparently several A-list latino stars, from Salma Hayek to Michelle Rodriguez are interested in working for his El Ray cable network
- Machete 2 is reconfirmed to shoot in April – but I’m still not clear on who will direct
- Sin City 2 is “likely” to go into production in the summer, though I’ll believe it when I see it
The Hollywood Reporter have a less bullety version of that for the more, erm, prosaically minded.
No new news on Fire and Ice, it seems. That’s curious. I hope nothing’s gone wrong there. Maybe there’s just nothing juicy to report at this stage.
Rodriguez’ plan was originally for a live action Heavy Metal, I’m pretty sure. That’s what was setting it apart from the abandoned Snyder-Fincher-whoever version of a few years back, I thought?
Excuse my continued cynicism about Sin City 2 but that film has been just around the corner for about fifty left turns now and I’m not at all convinced it’s any closer. My doubts in that respect are nowhere near my disappointment in Rodriguez’ professed plans for a corner-cutting animation enterprise.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating but I don’t think we can expect too much polish from Heavy Metal, not if this is how it’s going to come together. I’ll try to be hopeful, but I’m already fearing a real wasted opportunity.
