Sony TV Producing ‘El Mariachi’ Series Without Robert Rodriguez’s Consent

Robert Rodriguez is not very happy with Sony TV, which is producing a TV series of his film El Mariachi without his consent.

Sony announced plans to produce 70 episodes of an El Mariachi series last week.

“Much like the film, El Mariachi offers audiences a unique blend of high-stakes action and romance,” said Angélica Guerra, senior vice president and managing director, production, Latin America and US Hispanic. “Staying true to the story, we are producing the series in Mexico, shooting in magnificent locations and utilizing some of the country’s best talent.”

However, Rodriguez not only didn’t give his approval for the series, he wasn’t even told about it.

“Not only does Robert not have any involvement in this show, he wasn’t even given a ‘head’s up’ on Sony’s press release. In it we noticed that Sony mentioned something about ‘staying true to the original story,'” Rodriguez’s reps said. “Good luck with that without involving the creator! Not that it matters as the budget that’s allocated for the television production will make Robert’s original budget of $7,000 for El Mariachi look like Avatar.”

The reps added, “This TV series is a sloppy and lazy replica for the tourist trade, without any of the heart and soul that made the original El Mariachi win the Sundance Audience Award and become a landmark in independent cinema.”

El Mariachi, Robert Rodriguez’s directorial debut, was released in 1992. The film was shot using a mainly amateur cast and was originally intended for the Mexican home video market. However, Columbia Pictures executives liked the film and bought the American distribution rights. The film spawned two further entries in the “Mexico Trilogy,” Desperado(1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico(2003). Antonio Banderas replaced Carlos Gallardo as El Mariachi in the latter two films, and co-starred Salma Hayek as his wife, Carolina.