The John Malkovich Sci-Fi Movie You Will Never See

John Malkovich has a movie appropriately titled 100 Years or "The Movie You'll Never See" which is locked away in Cognac, France.

By Douglas Helm | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

John Malkovich is no stranger to experiemental cinema. After all, we’re talking about the guy who starred as himself in a movie where people could enter his mind through a portal and puppeteer him. However, his experimental sci-fi film 100 Years truly takes the cake.

While the subject matter and plot of the film may be pretty straightforward, we’ll never know. Why? Well, 100 Years isn’t being released until November 18, 2115.

There have been some details released, though the film is mostly shrouded in mystery. We know that it stars John Malkovich as the male protagonist, Taiwanese actress Shuya Chang as the female protagonist, and Chilean actor Marko Zaror as the antagonist. Robert Rodriguez directs the film.

The film dates back to 2015 when Robert Rodriguez and John Malkovich announced that they worked with Louis XIII Cognac to make a short film inspired by the 100-year process it takes to make a bottle of the liquor. Apparently, Rodriguez thought the film was going to be a commercial for the cognac, but instead, they decided to lock it away and give the movie the tagline “The Movie You’ll Never See.” It seems like a fair tagline, as anyone old enough to appreciate the cognac right now likely won’t be alive to check out the film in 2115.

It’s not all smoke and mirrors though. You can watch the three teasers that were released in 2018 titled Retro, Nature, and Future if you want to get an idea of what the film might look like. While it’s not as satisfying as seeing the film itself, it’s probably the best you’ll get unless you can jump into John Malkovich’s head and demand to see a screening. Check one out below:

The weirdness doesn’t stop there, though. Currently, the film is being held in a bulletproof glass case in the Louis XIII cellars in Cognac, France. One thousand metal tickets have been distributed that will grant you entry to the premiere of the film and if you’re a lucky ticket holder you can pass it on to your descendants after you die.

Apparently, Pharrell recorded a song for the film that was played live at a private party. The song will be released on 2117, so maybe that will be the “Happy” or “Drop It Like It’s Hot” or “Milkshake” of our grandchildren’s generation. In either case, if you’re reading this article you probably won’t get to see John Malkovich in 100 Years, or hear the song made for it.

Here’s the good news. Even though we won’t get to see John Malkovich in 100 Years the long-time actor is still making plenty of movies, so we’ve got a lot more of his work to look forward to. In fact, as long as you can make it to the end of this year, you’ll be able to check him out in Wash Me in the River.

Wash Me in the River follows a recovering addict seeking revenge on the drug dealers whose drugs resulted in the death of his fiance. Along with Malkovich, the film will star Robert de Niro, Jack Huston, Quavo, and Willa Fitzgerald. Randall Emmett directs with a screenplay by Adam Taylor Barker and Chris Sivertson.

One of John Malkovich’s more anticipated upcoming films is the directorial debut for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day. The film was announced way back in 2018, but Day wrote additional pages under the advice of Guillermo del Toro. Day talked about the changes and Guillermo del Toro’s advice, which included changing the name from El Tonto, in an interview with Total Film earlier this year.

Along with directing and writing the script, Charlie Day is also starring in the lead role. It’ll be interesting to see what Day brings to the table, especially with such a star-studded cast on board. In addition to John Malkovich, the film will star Kate Beckinsale, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jillian Bell, Ken Jeong, Adrien Brody, Travis Fimmel, and the late Ray Liotta.

While the Charlie Day film has faced its share of delays, we can probably rest assured that we won’t have to wait until 2115 to see it. Plus, there’s no way that John Malkovich’s 100 Years could live up to the hype it’s building over the next century. At least, that’s what we can tell ourselves to feel better about not seeing it.