(Photo via Angelika Film Center/Roadside Attractions)
“Accidental Texan” is set to hit theaters on March 8 after completing a deal with distributor Roadside Attractions last month. The film stars Thomas Haden Church (“Spider-Man 3,” “Sideways”), Rudy Pankow (“Outer Banks”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix” series, “Memento”), and follows Pankow’s Erwin, a Harvard-educated actor who loses his first job and gets stuck in Buffalo Gap, Texas. There, he meets Merle, an oil driller whose debt is helped by Erwin and a local waitress, Faye.
Pankow joined the cast in 2021, with the film premiering at the Dallas International Film Festival last year on April 29, 2023. The film was awaiting a distributor to head to theaters.
“Accidental Texan” was previously titled “Chocolate Lizards,” the name of Cole Thompson’s 1999 novel, which the movie is based on. Principal photography was shot in and around Austin, according to a press release, employing approximately 75 Austin crew members, 22 Austin principal actors and 230 Austin background talent, and even included a local Karnes City resident who won an auction bid to appear in the film, among other Texans.
The film was written and produced by Abilene-native Julie B. Denny, featured work from other Abileneans and had its Abilene premiere last year with a large celebration, which included several of the film’s stars.
For more news on Texas film, stay tuned to SZNSMAG.com.
SZNS MAG 