The Texas-born director – known for films such as Sin City and Machete – has unveiled El Rey, a 24-hour TV network, which is billed as a channel for young men “and what we call kick-a** females”.
Its first scripted original show, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, premieres this week and is a reimagining of Rodriguez’ 1996 cult classic movie, which starred George Clooney and Salma Hayek.
But Rodriguez said it is just the beginning.
“I don’t really want the network to be niche,” he said. “With us doing a show like Dusk Till Dawn, people say, ‘Is that the kind of shows you’ll be doing?’ But our next (original) series will be a little broader.”
That series is Matador, created by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It focuses on a globe-trotting soccer champ and playboy who is also a top-secret CIA operative. It’s set for a July debut.
“Then our next show after that might open things up even more,” Rodriguez continued. “We’ll keep surprising people.”
The 45-year-old filmmaker plans to be very involved in the network.
“As we grow,” he said, “our priority will be more about hiring and training the right people to run the network. But I’ll still have to be pretty hands-on. And right now, I do everything but turn your TV on for you.”
“I’m the person who’s starting the network,” he continued. “But it’s not the Robert Rodriguez Network. It’s called El Rey because it’s bigger than me: Mi Network Es Su Network!”
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