Robert Rodriguez Says JOHNNY QUEST Will Be a Legit Action Adventure Movie

A couple of months ago we learned that Robert Rodriguez will be directing a live-action adaptation of the classic 1964 cartoon series Johnny Quest. This is going to be a different kind of project for the filmmaker. He’s made kid films before, but this isn’t going to be the same silly kind of kids movies that he’s made in the past. While talking to /Film he said that his Johnny Quest is going to be a legit action adventure film. He explained,

“I thought it’d be really cool to do a legitimate action/adventure film that just happens to have a kid in it. Not a kids film; the Spy Kids were more like kids films, this would be like a real action-adventure film because that’s what the original series was like. It was a hard hitting, kickass action-adventure series. That’s what enticed me to go do it. My own series had already played out. That was a cool property still that the studio had. I thought I would go see what they thought of it and they were really into it.”

The director went on to talk about how this project is going to be different than anything he’s done before:

“It’d be different from anything that I’ve done. I’ve never done anything really that wasn’t either a really small little kid type movie or a more violent action film. This would be like doing a James Bond/Indiana Jones movie. Imagine you’re a kid and James Bond is your bodyguard and your dad is Indiana Jones. It’s one of those movies and you just happen to be in it.”

Rodriguez is making the movie for Warner Bros., and as you know, he’s more of an independent film guy. He also mostly works on his original film ideas with the exception of films like Sin City and Predators, which he didn’t direct. He explained that he was always looking for a studio franchise like this to be a part of:

“There are just so few properties that are interesting. I’ve always wanted to do one because you learn a lot. Doing a studio project like that, you would learn something that you would bring back to something that you do on a smaller scale. You have a bigger budget than I would normally work with. So I was always looking for a franchise. I knew Dan Lin a long time. He did Lego Movie, he’s a producer, he did a movie with me called Shorts. Years and years ago he brought me Jonny Quest. I was like, ‘You know, I have my own series. I’m doing the Spy Kids movies.’ Once those played out, he came back again recently and said, ‘What about Jonny Quest?’ I’m still a huge Jonny Quest fan. My kids still watch Jonny Quest. They’re still so into it. I turned them onto it when they were little and now they’re 17, 18, and 12 but they still love it.”

Rodriguez doesn’t know if this will be his next film or not, though. The other live action movie that he’s developing is the fantasy film Fire and Ice. Both scripts will be turned in at the same time, and he’s not sure which one is going to get greenlit first. 

These are both great projects, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Rodriguez has planned for them. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie made by the filmmaker that has completely wowed me. Maybe these movies will have that wow factor.

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