Our first look at Robert Rodriguez’s new horror film Hypnotic has finally arrived. Variety has released an exclusive still from the film, which features top liner Ben Affleck. Affleck’s character in Hypnotic is described in a longline as a detective investigating a string of mysterious crimes while looking for his missing daughter, whose abduction is linked to a top-secret government program.
The first photo, published by Variety, shows a worried-looking Affleck holding what appears to be a Polaroid photo of his kid. Alice Braga, JD Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley, and William Fichtner will join Affleck in Hypnotic as co-stars. Finley will play Affleck’s missing daughter, but beyond that, not much is known about their characters.
Hypnotic will reportedly have its world premiere on March 12 at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, where Rodriguez will also show a rough film edit. Hypnotic is still in post-production, but this screening will give festival goers a taste of what they can expect from the finished picture. Rodriguez, a native Texan, debuted his 2019 film Red 11 at SXSW.
Hypnotic will be produced by Jeff Robinov and John Graham for Studio 8, Mark Gill, Guy Botham, Lisa Ellzey, and Rodriguez’s son, Racer Rodriguez, under the Troublemaker Studios moniker. Studio 8 and Gill’s Solstice Studios first worked together on the project; however, Solstice Studios has since sold its distribution rights to Ketchup Entertainment. Rodriguez did not just direct and produce but also wrote the script with Racer and Max Borenstein.
Rodriguez, who has directed blockbuster films like Sin City and the Spy Kids franchises, considers Hypnotic to be a labor of love. He directed the 2005 cult classic The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Previously, Rodriguez revealed to Collider that he’s been envisioning Hypnotic for the past two decades, calling it “a Hitchcock thriller on steroids.” He said the picture was “extremely dynamic” and featured “a lot of twists, a lot of turns.”
In the meantime, Affleck is getting ready to direct his next film, Air. The movie, featuring Matt Damon, will show how Nike tried to get an endorsement agreement with NBA great Michael Jordan. In addition to The Flash, Aquaman, and the Lost Kingdom, he will appear in future DC flicks as Batman.
Ketchup has announced a theatrical release of Hypnotic, but the film has yet to debut.
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