The anticipation of seeing a certain film is half of the fun of being a movie fan. It’s hard to think of anything as exciting as a big release getting closer and closer, eventually sitting in the theater waiting for the lights to go down. The wait is fun, but it can also be a slog. Now more than ever, studios and filmmakers enjoy announcing movies way, way ahead of time. We’re talking massive slates of films that won’t hit cinemas for even up to five years. Sometimes directors have passion projects that they work on for what feels like forever, repeatedly pushing them back because it just doesn’t seem ready yet, which is understandable. We would all much rather have that than a half-baked vision, rushed out just to get the next thing rolling.
Well, imagine a movie in which a great director is running the show, with one of today’s most fascinating actors in the lead… but there’s one catch. You’ll never be able to see this movie — because you’ll be dead. Well, we hate to break it to you, but that’s just the case here. Robert Rodriguez, director of Sin City and From Dusk ’til Dawn, has a film in the can called 100 Years. Yes, a film that has been written, shot, edited, and stowed away in a high-tech safe behind bulletproof glass. It’s an experimental sci-fi film starring John Malkovich, one that Rodriguez does not intend to release until November 18, 2115.
Robert Rodriguez’s ‘100 Years’ Will Be Released in 2115
100 Years was conceived in an incredibly interesting fashion. Usually, one might come up with an idea for a film based on personal experiences or mirror the current political and social landscape (especially within sci-fi), but that is not the case with Rodriguez’s upcoming (loose term here) short film. The 22nd-century experimental film was brought about in a partnership with the Rémy Martin-owned company Louis XIII Cognac. The film and its release schedule are dually inspired by the long process of making a bottle of Louis XIII, a 100-year endeavor. Now, who makes a movie not only entirely centered around the making of an alcoholic beverage but was also influenced in the modeling of their release strategy by how said alcoholic beverage is made? Well, I guess that would be Robert Rodriguez. The El Mariachi filmmaker has always been an innovator… making a movie that he won’t be alive to see released sounds pretty average for him.
What Will Robert Rodriguez’s ‘100 Years’ Be About?
While audiences and fans of Rodriguez have been graced with the information detailing the inspiration behind the project, the premise of the film is being kept tightly under wraps. Still, we have been given little scraps of information. What we do know about the story of 100 Years is that the film takes place, you guessed it, 100 years from now. The team behind the film has lightly discussed their efforts at making their best prediction of what the world will look like in the year 2115. The film is based on some form of science fiction, but which kind remains to be seen. Rodriguez’s films often have simple stories. El Mariachi, Machete, Spy Kids; you name it, these movies are all pretty straightforward. On the off chance that 100 Years ends up being a super uncomplicated movie, hopefully, people won’t be too let down. At the end of the day, this whole project seems to be much more about the gimmick than the actual content of the story. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with a good gimmick!
There Are Three Teaser Trailers for ‘100 Years’
One hundred years ahead of the film’s release, three teasers have been put up online to give audiences a semblance of the type of futuristic film we (or our great-grandchildren) can come to expect. The first of the three teasers is named “Retro,” set in a steampunk vision of the year 2115. The second teaser, “Nature,” takes place in a seemingly post-apocalyptic, overgrown future in which society has collapsed and nature has taken back over. The last teaser, “Future,” sets 2115 in a neon-lit future reminiscent of Blade Runner. The specific version of 2115 that the film takes place in remains to be seen, but in the meantime, these brief clips do a great job of getting our interests piqued.
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Each of the three teasers plays out in almost the exact same fashion, clocking in at just over or under 80 seconds. The first 24 seconds of each teaser opens with the exact same clip of Malkovich stowing a bottle of Louis XIII away into a safe. Here, it is explained that in 2015, he shot a film that would not be released for another 100 years, much like the bottle of Louis XIII being put away. The safe locks and a timer immediately start counting the minutes until November 18, 2115, the release date of the film.
Now that the stage has been set for the metaphor that drives 100 Years, the pace picks up big time. We see Malkovich’s character, “The Protagonist,” arrive at a building in a vehicle that is modeled after the given teaser’s theme, set against a cityscape that also immediately reads the “Retro,” “Nature,” or “Future” teaser styles. He meets up with a character dubbed “The Female Protagonist” (Shuya Chang) and the two hurry down a long corridor towards a safe. A timer goes off and the safe cracks open, revealing a bottle of Louis XIII. Upon seeing the bottle, Malkovich exclaims “2015…”, and “The Antagonist” (Marko Zaror) catches the two in the act, closing out each of the teasers.
Now, if any of these three teasers get you excited about the movie that Rodriguez and his team have stowed away for 100 years… maybe lower those expectations just a bit. In the description for each of these teasers, it is explained that what you’re seeing actually has nothing to do with the movie itself. Now, why on Earth would they release teasers that have nothing to do with what actually happens in the movie? The obvious answer is that, again, they’re merely attracting attention to their film through this 100-year-long marketing gimmick. On top of that, by not showing anything from the movie, an even greater mystique will be created around it, which will then generate even more hype. It sucks for modern audiences, but 22nd-century folk will surely be clamoring for this century-long movie mystery.
So… what is there to look forward to in 100 Years? Well, nothing really, because we’ll all be dead! But if anything, our great, great grandkids can all enjoy this lovely sci-fi epic spearheaded by Robert Rodriguez and the Louis XIII Cognac company, so good for them. For those of us who get to live in the pointless anticipation of this film’s release, at least we have the fortune of seeing an interesting experiment come to life. The idea of a film being made, only to be released an entire century later, isn’t exactly the most practical move financially, but this isn’t about money — it’s about refining art to perfection, even if it means stowing it away for 100 years.
Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn is available to rent on Amazon.
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From Dusk Till Dawn
- Release Date
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January 19, 1996
- Runtime
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108 minutes
