It might have been El Mariachi‘s micro-budget guerrilla-style filmmaking that first brought Robert Rodriguez to prominence and launched his career in Hollywood almost 30 years ago, but over the last little while, he’s arguably experienced his most sustained period of success since he first picked up a camera.
Alita: Battle Angel may not have pulled in the numbers required to guarantee a sequel, but it remains the director’s biggest box office hit by some distance, and has spawned such a loyal cult following that more adventures in the universe are looking increasingly likely. Not only that, but he also helmed one of The Mandalorian‘s best ever episodes and wound up as an executive producer on upcoming spinoff The Book of Boba Fett, which isn’t a bad return for someone who only took the gig as a favor to longtime friend Jon Favreau when another filmmaker dropped out.
If that wasn’t enough, his Netflix movie We Can Be Heroes has been dominating the streaming service’s Top 10 most-watched list ever since it was released on Christmas Day, and has become one of the platform’s most popular family films ever after drawing in well over 40 million viewers. In fact, the superhero adventure recently reclaimed the top spot, and Rodriguez took to social media to celebrate the news, as you can see below.
#WeCanBeHeroes made it back to the #1 spot on @Netflix again! Read more about it from @Forbes Below! https://t.co/piCidheVTK
— Robert Rodriguez (@Rodriguez) January 12, 2021
A We Can Be Heroes sequel has already been given the green light, and it holds the unique distinction of being the first Netflix original movie to reach the number one spot on the Top 10 list on three separate occasions. Not to mention it’s also just the second title to ever accomplish the feat behind 365 Days, which was the company’s most-watched film of 2020.