The 1996 action-horror marked the first major collaboration between Rodriguez, who hails from San Antonio, and Quentin Tarantino. Here’s when tickets go on sale.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio’s Robert Rodriguez, the writer-director that found success with movies like “Spy Kids,” “Sin City” and “El Mariachi,” is set to return to the Aztec Theater this summer in what might be a new tradition.
The North St. Mary’s venue last fall hosted a 30th anniversary screening of Rodriguez’s early action hit “Desperado,” followed up by a Q&A, in what amounted to a homecoming. Rodriguez, currently headquartered at his Austin studio, said at the time that he grew up closer to the theater, which was a cinema decades ago, and remembered seeing “Star Wars” and “Jaws” there.
He also teased regular appearances to introduce his own films and other movies, echoing his frequent appearances at the Paramount in downtown Austin.
“You see things that no one else can ever see, hear stories no one else has heard. And they’re so full of people, the excitement level is just so high,” he said last September. “I thought, ‘Let me bring those kinds of things to the Aztec.'”
Now the Aztec – which is celebrating 100 years in 2026 – is preparing to welcome him back to commemorate 30 years since “From Dusk Till Dawn,” the action-horror riff starring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino as two criminals who pay an unsuspecting visit to a vampire den. Tickets go on sale Friday morning for the June 12 event, which will feature a performance by Rodriguez’s band.
Having premiered in January 1996 to film critic Roger Ebert calling it a “skillful meat-and-potatoes action extravaganza,” “From Dusk Till Dawn” pushed Rodriguez’s penchant for genre-twisting stories and explosive filmmaking into the realm of horror; it achieved notoriety for the way it presents itself as a gritty crime drama before springing something far more bombastic on audiences.
Written by Tarantino and directed by Rodriguez, it marked the duo’s first major collaboration in a partnership that would later leave its fingerprints on “Sin City,” “Kill Bill” and “Grindhouse.”
It also starred Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis and Cheech Marin, along with Rodriguez regulars Salma Hayek and Danny Trejo, and finished its box office run with more than $51 million against a $19 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. The film has remained influential over the years as a reference point for other directors dreaming up their own movie that starts down one path and finds itself treading different territory entirely by the time the credits roll.
Trejo joined Rodriguez for last year’s “Desperado” screening, so it’s a likely bet fans can expect him or another star to appear with him on June 12. General sale for the screening begins 10 a.m. Friday, with Live Nation All-Access members available to snag tickets starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.