Fourth 'Spy Kids' will be scent-sational

This summer, every blockbuster worth its 3-D specs can be expected to deliver at least a few visual chills and thrills.

But only Robert Rodriguez is offering a truly scent-sational experience.

That's because the innovative Austin-based filmmaker behind Sin City and Machete is reviving an old gimmick that lends a bonus dimension to his Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4-D, opening Aug. 19.

Namely, a sense of smell.

Audiences will not only be able to see the fourth go-round of family-oriented espionage action in 3-D, a technique Rodriguez helped popularize again with his third Spy Kids adventure in 2003. They will also get a whiff of Hollywood's latest attempt at olfactory entertainment as baby-toting spy mom Jessica Alba joins her twin stepchildren to battle Jeremy Piven's villainous Timekeeper and save the universe.

"After Spy Kids 3, I had to do something new, add another surprise," says Rodriguez, who has always appreciated the often-cheesy artistry behind such B-movie showmanship.

Keeping it a surprise, however, was the hard part, especially after online comments began to speculate about the 4-D predominantly displayed on the film's poster. Even his cast was kept in the dark. "I had actors smelling things on set," he says, since the odors are tied to the plot. "But they never questioned it."

However, a trailer premiering with the release of Cars 2 today reveals all.

Attempts as early as 1906 to raise a stink in theaters by sending scents into the air with fans or through pipes were far from perfect. A lower-tech version called Odorama, which was introduced with 1981's Polyester by trash-cinema auteur John Waters, proved more practical: Ticket buyers were given scratch-and-sniff cards with numbered spots that corresponded to certain scenes on-screen.

Rodriguez's Aromascope (as opposed to Smell-O-Vision or AromaRama in the '50s) uses a similar card loaded with eight different smells that will be handed out for free at both 2-D and 3-D showings. "It's very fun and interactive since you never know where and when a smell will come next," he says. "It adds a lot of extra laughs."

But the process is more touch-and-sniff now. You wipe a finger over the scent the way you do with an iPhone or an iPad. A tutorial given by Ricky Gervais, who speaks for the movie's robotic dog, will play before the story begins.

Rodriguez hopes his Aromascope is as big of a hit as test screenings suggest. "You never know," he says. "It would be great if it caught on and everyone started doing it." Meanwhile, he might have to invent another trick just in case there is a Spy Kids 5. "I'm thinking about putting suggestion cards in theaters. It will be hard to come back again with something else."

Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com