Robert Rodriguez calls upcoming 'Hypnotic' starring Ben Affleck 'like a Hitchcock thriller on steroids'

Director Robert Rodriguez has not yet begun shooting Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, but that didn't stop him from hyping the thriller.

"It's like a Hitchcock thriller on steroids," Rodriguez, whose most recent work is directing Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, told Collider. "That's all I can say. As soon as you see the first trailer, you'll go 'I got it. I'm there.' It's that kind of a movie. A lot of twists, a lot of turns. Very exciting. It's a not everything you see is real-type movie, and it's got a great cast. It'll be very energetic. It's one of my favorite stories. I started writing it back in 2002. So it's one of the ones I've had the longest that I've been wanting to do. I'm very excited that we finally might be making it."

Affleck was linked to the project in November 2019, and Deadline relayed at the time that the Oscar winner would be "playing a detective who, while investigating a string of impossible high-end heists, becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program."

Rodriguez didn't divulge any further plot details to Collider, but he did confirm that Hypnotic is supposed to finally begin filming in six weeks after a string of COVID-related delays. Deadline previously reported in early June that production was scheduled to begin in September.

"We're casting now," the filmmaker added. "It was hard to start casting until we knew for sure we were going because the delta variant showed up, and we thought this thing's going to push again. Because it's an independently financed film. Like Disney Plus could be like, 'Oh, we need this product. We're filming no matter what.' But you have an independent film, you have to get insurance. Insurance companies are very wary right now for this variant that could shut a movie down because then they're out of money. They'll be out a lot of money. So, understandably, it's risk. So, that we're going is really exciting because it's going to be fun to shoot and it's going to be a fun film."

In the meantime, below, watch the Happier Than Ever trailer ahead of its Sept. 3 release to Disney Plus.