Brass Knuckle Films has unveiled a five-project slate that includes three Robert Rodriguez original movies and two investor-pitched ideas, TheWrap has exclusively learned. The action label, backed by fan investors and co-founded by Rodriguez and former Fifth Season film head Alexis Garcia, raised $2 million from over 2,000 investors since launching last year.
Kicking off the inaugural slate is “Smooth Operators,” an action film written by actor DJ Cotrona and “Fight or Flight” screenwriter Brooks McLaren, which Rodriguez is set to direct. Also in the works is “Future Proof,” a character-driven action thriller written by “Carry On” screenwriter TJ Fixman and Rodriguez. The third Rodriguez project, is an untitled action film set in the future he describes as his version of John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York.”
Rodriguez and Garcia are also developing two projects that emerged from the banner’s “Best Idea Wins” contest, which attracted nearly 800 submissions from its 2,184 investors. Both those projects are moving into active development.
The winners — “Breach of Trust,” an original action screenplay by Jake Stetler inspired by “Rambo” author David Morrell, and “Lucky Bastards,” a heist film written by Ed Gardiner and Scott Conditt.
“We’re not looking for another ‘John Wick’ or ‘Die Hard’ in a whatever setting,’” Garcia tells TheWrap. “We’re looking for movies that can play to all sorts of audiences, especially those who love action, which is the broadest audience in the world.”
Garcia also noted that Rodriguez is holding the line on quality. “The standard that Robert in particular is holding to this is not just what can we develop that might have a shot at getting made, but he’s already rejecting things that I thought were good, because he’s already thinking about the trailer and how it would be marketed and why it might not be successful enough to be good for the brand,” Garcia said.
Rodriguez highlighted the appeal of “Future Proof’s” flexibility. “The best thing is we can just go out on the street and shoot it tomorrow, because it doesn’t require a lot of pre-production, because it’s a very character driven story, and you don’t even need a big star in it, because the story is a star,” Rodriguez said.
The initial $2 million startup capital was supposed to fund four to five projects. Now Rodriguez expects ten or twelve.
“The goodwill has been really high,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone I told about the company was just so excited. Writers, directors, they all want to work on this.”
The “Best Idea Wins” contest stands out because of what happens after a winner is picked. The original investor-writer gets to develop and collaborate alongside working screenwriters. Rodriguez said this was intentional — to let contest winners see how professional development works and understand why stories change.
“We’ll hire you to write the script, but we’re going to include the original writer —the investor who pitched the idea — so he can sit at the table with us and see what happens in the development process,” Rodriguez said. “They understand why something might get changed, or what suggestions are made. We want them to see the process, because that’s going to blow their mind and expand their mind, and it’ll make them better writers.”
On top of the slate announcement, Brass Knuckle Films is also hosting their second annual bash at South by Southwest on Saturday celebrating the 30th anniversary of Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Rodriguez will perform with his band Chingon. The event is presented by Luma with support from AWS and ElevenLabs.
“The show’s gonna be cool,” Rodriguez said. “My band does all music. I do music for my movies, Quentin’s movies, all these years. So we show footage behind us of it, of the movies. And it’s just the coolest show here.”