Fans of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez have come to expect the likes of Rose McGowan mowing people down with a machine-gun leg in “Planet Terror,” or Danny Trejo killing a man, ripping him open and using his intestines to climb down a building in “Machete.”
So now that Rodriguez has his own network, El Rey, and has remade his 1996 film “From Dusk Till Dawn” as a TV series premiering Tuesday at 9 p.m., does that mean fans can expect a weekly diet of swinging guts and bloody gore — often accompanied, or caused, by some of the the hottest babes in Hollywood?
If the show’s opening scene is any indication, the answer is an impassioned “you bet.”
After a montage of Aztec imagery and a vampire’s voice-over, we see a beautiful young woman running through a forest on a stormy night, chased by scantily clad, torch-wielding villagers. She is captured and tossed into a pit, where snakes encircle her before one makes its way into her mouth and down her throat.
The show’s pilot continues along in this visceral vein and includes both an extended shoot-out and a lengthy scene centered around a bullet-ridden body that’s interrupted by one character’s haunting vampiric visions.
But when asked about which of his trademark grindhouse touches fans can expect from the show, Rodriguez plays down the sex, guts and gore, explaining that “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series,” will only have about as much blood and violence as “The Walking Dead.”
“The show’s tone is different than the film’s,” says Rodriguez, noting that by Episode 6, the plot will have largely diverged from the film’s. “The show is gonna be played a lot more naturalistic, a lot creepier, and a lot more like it’s really happening. You might be surprised to find that it’s more restrained.”
The 1996 film, written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Rodriguez, starred Tarantino and George Clooney as bank-robbing brothers who seek refuge from the law in a bar, only to find it populated by vampires. The ensuing battle of humans vs. vamps made the film’s latter half a symphony of action, blood and body parts.
So when Rodriguez says that the show, which broadens the story and includes both old and new characters, will be “restrained,” we must remember the relative nature of that term — especially from the guy who had Bruce Willis shoot a man’s family jewels off in 2005’s “Sin City.”
“When there is gore, it’s shocking,” he says. “It’s like how violence plays in Quentin’s other stories, where you have great dialogue sequences, then something shocking happens, and never when you expect. Sometimes it’s brutal. Sometimes it’s just scary.”
Of course, others may have a different take on what exactly constitutes brutal gore.
“There’s some pretty grizzly stuff here. Really grizzly,” says Robert Patrick, who plays a preacher whose fate becomes intertwined with the brothers, and who took great pains to prevent himself from accidentally revealing spoilers.
“I don’t know what I can reveal, but there’s lots of blood. It’s real grindhouse entertainment. I can’t get any more [specific], but it’s gruesome stuff.”
As for why the director was playing down expectations in this area, it’s easy to see that he so values the show’s others elements, he’s cautious of letting the grindhouse and aesthetics loom too large. For one, Rodriguez is very excited about the cast he’s assembled, a blend of long-admired character actors and exciting new faces.
Alongside Zane Holtz, who recalls a young Michael Shannon, in the Tarantino role of psychotic bank robber Richie Gecko — and Jesse Garcia in the new role of Ranger Freddie Gonzalez — Rodriguez cast D.J. Cotrona (“GI Joe: Retaliation”) in the Clooney role of bank robber Seth Gecko.
“He was in George’s situation,” says Rodriguez. “[When we made the original], nobody would give [George] film work. I gave him his first movie break. D.J. was kinda like that. He’d been in some movies, but the starring roles didn’t go. There was a ‘Die Hard’ movie with Bruce Willis, and he was cast as Superman in ‘Justice League,’ but Warners pulled the plug because it went over budget. He was on the brink of stardom, like George was.”
In addition to Patrick, the show’s veterans include Wilmer Valderrama as a gangster and Don Johnson as Ranger Earl McGraw.
“Miami Vice” star Johnson was first cast by Rodriguez in “Machete,” playing a brutal anti-immigrant vigilante. Rodriguez was enthralled by the actor, as was Tarantino — so much so that he wrote the role of a plantation owner known as Big Daddy in “Django Unchained” for Johnson after seeing him in that film.
“I was just blown away by him,” says Rodriguez. “I’ve had big stars on my set, but this was the biggest. The cast and crew would hang on his every word. He even had Robert De Niro eating out of his hands. He told me later, ‘Oh yeah, we played golf together, we became really good friends.” There’s just something about him that people really like.”
Rodriguez finds himself in an unique position with this series. As the owner (with two partners and Univision) of El Rey, Rodriguez is a showrunner who’ll also make the decision on whether his show gets renewed.
“Right now, we’re not rated,” he says, explaining that it will take El Rey until the second season of “From Dusk Till Dawn” until it’s set in the Nielsen ratings system.
“Our measure of success will be, how is the audience responding, how is our social media going, things like that. I used this title because people know it, and that will make them seek out El Rey.”
In running both the show and the network, Rodriguez may find himself walking fine lines, creating his trademark sort of wild-eyed programming while representing the network in broad enough terms to attract mainstream viewers.
But longtime fans need not worry. Watching the show, it’s clear that the more sensational elements of Rodriguez’s filmography have not gone missing in his shift to the small screen.
“Every network has its own guidelines,” he says. “I’ve written mine down somewhere. I just can’t seem to find them.”