It has become very difficult for me to generate interest in any new Robert Rodriguez movie. Planet Terror is the only thing he’s done in a decade that I still really liked after the credits rolled. (Since The Faculty, really, which feels so old now.) But then I think back to my first exposure to El Mariachi and how his break onto the scene carried so much excitement about filmmaking, and my resolve weakens, for a moment.

A couple weeks back, a mystery listing appeared on Box Office Mojo for a film called Nerveracker* with Robert Rodriguez briefly listed as director. It echoed an LA Times article from ’01 that mentioned a Rodriguez “chiller” by the same title as part of Harvey Weinstein’s upcoming slate.

Now the trades confirm that Rodriguez will direct the film for an April 16, 2010 release. It’s a sci-fi picture, more or less, about a guy who is part of an elite anti-crime unit in an ostensibly ‘perfect’ society. Shades of Minority Report, sure, but with Rodriguez writing (and shooting and editing and painting the sets, assuming there are any sets), that could mean anything. Harry at AICN says the movie was described as “a badass science fiction film noir” over a decade ago, which could also mean anything.

What this does mean is that the other million projects that have been speculated as Rodriguez’s next will all have to wait. I’m more curious about this than I could ever be for Sin City 2 or even Machete, so you’ll get no real complaints here.

* I thought ‘Nervewracker’ would be the only correct spelling, but several dictionary sites say otherwise. So it’s not just the Tarantino influence working.