Typically, the movie comes first; the trailer comes later. Hobo with a Shotgun – the memorable Grindhouse spinoff – did things backward, however. The end result stars Rutger Hauer (the evil replicant from Blade Runner) in a insanely committed turn.
“For me, Rutger Hauer is my favorite actor,” acclaimed director Jason Eisener, told MovieWeb. “When I grew up, he was the first actor that caught my attention. He was the first actor where I tracked down every one of his films. First and foremost, I am a film fan. And I want to see more Rutger Hauer movies. When they asked me to write my list of favorite actors who I thought should play the role, he was on the top of that list instantly. I wanted to see a new Rutger Hauer 80s-style action movie.”
How A Low-Budget Faux Trailer For Grindhouse Expanded Into Jason Eisener’s 2011 B-Movie Action Flick
The B-movie energy that pulses through the ultraviolent film – reminiscent of both ’70s and ’80s flicks – just can’t be missed. Eisener is preparing his follow-up project Blantant Violence High, based on the video game Vigilante. And as Hobo celebrates 10 years since its release to the masses, we look at how the exposure of a couple of A-list directors helped bring Eisener’s debut feature film to life. Among that duo is none other than Quentin Tarantino.
In 2007, Eisener saw an announcement for a “Grindhouse” trailer contest, sponsored by the SXSW Film Festival and Robert Rodriguez. Eisener, along with his collaborator Rob Cotterill, wrote a script and shot a trailer titled Hobo With a Shotgun in just six days. A month after the clip went viral on YouTube, it won the contest and would later appear in between Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Ever since Eisener with fellow Dartmouth-grad filmmakers Cotterill and John Davie won the competition in Austin, they have become favorites among fans of the gore-action-comedy genre. After much anticipation, the talented trio was ready to give Hobo With a Shotgun feature-length treatment and officially announced their plans at the 2008 Fantasia Film Festival.
Celebrated filmmakers Edgar Wright, Eli Roth and Rob Zombie also contributed their own fake “coming attractions” to Grindhouse, but it was only Rodriguez’s Machete and Jason Eisener’s Hobo that made the leap to the big screen. And while Grinshouse directors Tarantino and Rodriguez were instrumental in exposing Eisener’s work to the world, Eisener would later admit he was able to producer the feature-length Hobo With a Shotgun all on his own.
“I met with Tarantino once at the Inglorious Basterds premiere in Toronto,” Eisener would tell &IndieWire&. “And I just told him that we were making the film. He was really stoked and excited for us. I just left it at that. I didn’t want to reach out or ask for any favors. I just wanted to do it on my own. Hopefully they’ll see the movie and dig it.”
In honor of its 10th year since hitting the big screen, the cult-favorite end result of Hobo can be viewed on streaming platforms including Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Source: movieweb.com