There aren’t a lot of filmmakers working today with a more varied repetoire than Robert Rodriguez. He got started makingultra-violent low-budget action classicslikeEl MariachiandDesperado, but he might be best-known among mainstream audiences for his children’s films like the hitSpy Kidsfranchise.
This week, Rodriguez revealed the first publicity photos from his next kid’s movie,We Could Be Heroes,a stand-alone sequel to 2005’sThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D.It’s anyone’s guess howthatworks, sinceSharkboy and Lavagirlwas mostly about one kid’s dreams. Either way,We Could Be Heroesfeatures the introduction of a new superteam, the Heroics, that’sbeen captured by aliens. It’s up to Missy (YaYa Gosselin,13 Reasons Why), who has yet to discover if she has any superpowers at all, to organize the Heroics' small army of children into a team that can rescue their parents.
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As is his wont, Rodriguez is wearing a lot of hats on the film’s production, as director, writer, producer, and cinematographer. The film stars Pedro Pascal(The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones),Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico), Christian Slater(Mr. Robot),Sung Kang (Hanfrom theFast & Furiousfranchise), Boyd Holbrook(Logan, The Predator),and singer/songwriter Haley Reinhart in her acting debut.
Taylor Dooley also returns from whatappears to be at least semi-retirementto reprise her role as Lavagirl. Reportedly, Sharkboy also appears inWe Can Be Heroes, but has no lines and may not be played by original actor Taylor Lautner.
Sharkboy and Lavagirlwas resoundly panned by critics back in 2005 andbarely turned a profit at the box office. It’s reasonable to wonder why it’s getting a sequel at all, when Rodriguez could just as easily have made anotherSpy Kids. According to Rodriguez, it’s because in the last nine months, with families stuck at home together watching movies, his kids' films have become popular once again.
“A lot of families have spent a lot of time together,”Rodriguez said toEntertainment Weekly. “I’ve been getting calls from all kinds of studios: ‘RebootSpy Kids.’ ‘RebootSharkboy.’ Of course they want to. They’re all sitting at home with their kids."
Rodriguez’s other projects this year include directing the music video for Lady Gaga’s song “Rain On Me,” which also features Ariana Grande. He announced back in May via Twitter that he’sinvolved in an unspecified mannerwith the Disney+ showThe Mandalorian, claiming to “had the very rare privilege of directing the biggest star in the universe.” Presumably, this means Rodriguez has directed one of the as-yet-unaired episodes, but Disney+ has not yet revealed which one.
We Could Be Heroesis scheduled to premiere on Netflix on New Year’s Day of 2021.
