A Day in the Life of Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez has a new project – but you’ll never see it. We mean this quite literally: on Nov. 18, the director of Sin City, Machete and From Dusk Till Dawn announced his new film, 100 Years: The Movie You’ll Never See alongside star and scribe John Malkovich. The project is unprecedented: as funded by LOUIS XIII, whose high-end cognac also takes a century to fully blossom, it hasn’t been seen by anyone who wasn’t directly involved in its creation. The film has been placed in a state-of-the-art, fail-proof safe, which will automatically open on Nov. 18, 2115, and not a moment before. Here, the 47-year-old director and founder of the El Rey Network shares what his day looked like as he prepared to debut his secret new project.

6 A.M. Heading to the airport for a 7 A.M. flight to Los Angeles. I live, work and play in Austin, Texas, but being in the entertainment business means I travel to L.A. a couple times a month. This trip is for the premiere of my latest project, 100 Years: The Movie You’ll Never See with John Malkovich and LOUIS XIII cognac.

9 A.M. I land and head to a studio in Century City to record the DVD commentary for my television series From Dusk Till Dawn. I got to tell some fun stories on directing the first and last episode of season two, and it’s always a blast to see and hang out with the cast.

11:45 A.M. Arrive at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel to speak to the press about the 100 Years project, reunited with John Malkovich and Global Executive Director of LOUIS XIII, Ludovic du Plessis. We debut the trailer for the movie no one will ever see for another century and take questions from the press. I say that we really wanted to capture the innovation and artistry that the LOUIS XIII brand has delivered through out the years, and that we felt that doing something this bold would accomplish that. I was very proud of what John and I were able to accomplish along with the wonderful team of creatives at LOUIS XIII.

1 P.M. I then go to the Four Seasons for a casting session for my new movie, and meet some new actors. I always try and make the most of my trips to L.A., often packing my days and nights pretty tight with meetings and such to reduce the amount of time I have to come back. It’s good when I’m in L.A. to set up meetings with actors, writers, and producers I want to work with in the future. Usually, my back-to-back meetings are at the bar and lounge at the Four Seasons. I’m there so much, that back in 2002 doing press for Spy Kids 2, I was the millionth customer at the Four Seasons bar and won, get this, a million free drinks! Too bad I’m not a big drinker; I’m there so much I would have closed the place down by now. So I basically use my million free drinks to get free tea.

7 P.M. It’s time for the big night. The premiere party for 100 Years: The Movie You’ll Never See. I arrive at the Sheats-Goldstein House, a historic, futuristic-looking home that is a Los Angeles architectural icon. We present the trailer and do a big toast with some LOUIS XIII. They present me two silver tickets for my descendants to be at the premiere of the film in Cognac, France in 2115. How cool is that? What John and I wanted it to be was a work of timeless art that can be enjoyed in 100 years. I’m very proud of it even if only my great-grandkids and hopefully my clone will be around to watch.