Robert Rodriguez has dabbled in sci-fi before, but over the last few years he’s gone all-in on the genre in a major way.
As well as directing instant cult favorite Alita: Battle Angel and diving into the Star Wars sandbox with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, he helmed the micro budget horror-tinged Red 11 in 2019, and his experimental 100 Years starring John Malkovich is locked away in a vault scheduled for release in November 2115, which isn’t a typo.
Next up is the high concept action thriller Hypnotic, a project the filmmaker has been mulling for almost two decades. Co-written by MonsterVerse veteran Max Borenstein, Ben Affleck plays a detective investigating a series of crimes who gets caught up in a conspiracy involving his missing daughter and a top secret government program.
Rodriguez previously described Hypnotic as “Hitchcock on steroids”, and two new cast members have now joined Affleck and previously-announced co-star Alice Braga. Dayo Okeniyi, who can currently be seen in Jason Momoa’s AppleTV+ series See, and veteran character actor William Fichtner are the latest names to board the ensemble, as per Deadline.
Cameras are rolling on Hypnotic as we speak, which is definitely one worth keeping an eye on given the involvement of Rodriguez and Affleck, with the leading man tackling his first broad action-driven role for a while.