Netflix has announced Spy Kids: Armageddon, the new film in the franchise launching on the streaming service on September 22, 2023. You can watch the trailer using the player below.
From Skydance and Spyglass, Spy Kids: Armageddon is directed by Robert Rodriguez from a script by Rodriguez and Racer Max.
The cast includes Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Everly Carganilla, Connor Esterson, Billy Magnussen, and D.J. Cotrona.
The producers include Robert Rodriguez, Racer Max, Elizabeth Avellan, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger. Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre are the executive producers.
In the film, the children of the world’s greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful Game Developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology. The kids must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.
Spy Kids: Armageddon introduces a new generation of spies. “I’ve just heard from so many families how much they’ve enjoyed these films over the course of their lives. And now a lot of kids who enjoyed the first films as children are parents themselves and enjoy sharing them with their kids,” said Rodriguez.
The filmmaker talked to Netflix’s Tudum about writing the fifth installment of the franchise with his son, Racer (his son Rebel composed the film’s score as well): “I wish I could go back in a time machine and ask myself at 8, 9 years old what I wanted to see in a movie.”
“He taught me that work is play,” Racer said of his father. “You should enjoy what you do so much and you should be doing what you enjoy so much in your life that it just feels like play. Our favorite method of writing… is, we grab our notepads (or our phones at this point), jump into the pool and float around and just talk, come up with ideas.”
The new Spy Kids, Tony and Patty, are played by newcomers Connor Esterson and Everly Carganilla. Zachary Levi and Gina Rodriguez play their parents, Terrence and Nora, and Billy Magnussen is diabolical new villain Rey “The King” Kingston.
“Each film I named the Spy Kids after some of my siblings,” Rodriguez added. “And this time, because I thought the little girl should be honest, she’s based on my sister, Patricia.” Patty’s brother Tony, meanwhile, was named after Rodriguez’s middle name, Anthony. “I always went by Tony when I was younger and I was of course the one who was always rigging the game.”
Rodriguez also said the new film stands alone. “This movie really wants to stand on its own, kind of establish the family,” he said.
There will be references to the original films, however. “There [will] be Easter eggs,” Rodriguez promised.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.