Film Friendly Texas Community

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” 
Year released: 1974 
Location: Round Rock 
Director: Tobe Hooper 
Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger 
Production notes: The original location of the film’s shoot was on Quick Hill Road just outside of Round Rock, south of where SH 45 N is today. The house used for the shoot has since been restored and moved to Kingsland. 

“Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” 
Year released: 1982 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Colin Higgins 
Stars: Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds 
Production notes: The main house in the movie, the Chicken Ranch, is a private residence in Pflugerville. 

“Blood Simple” 
Year released: 1984 
Locations: Round Rock, Pflugerville 
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen 
Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand 
Production notes: This is the first feature film from the Coen Brothers, who would return to Texas to shoot films, such as “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit.” 

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” 
Year released: 1993 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Lasse Hallström 
Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio 

“The Big Green” 
Year released: 1995 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Holly Goldberg Sloan 
Stars: Steve Guttenberg, Jay O. Sanders 

“The Newton Boys” 
Year released: 1998 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Richard Linklater 
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Matthew McConaughey 

“Miss Congeniality” 
Year released: 2000 
Location: Round Rock 
Director: Donald Petrie 
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, William Shatner 

“25th Hour” 
Year released: 2002 
Location: Hutto 
Director: Spike Lee 
Stars: Rosario Dawson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton 

“The Rookie” 
Year released: 2002 
Location: Round Rock 
Director: John Lee Hancock 
Stars: Dennis Quaid 
Production notes: The fictional Hurham Bulls home stadium was the recently completed Dell Diamond, home to the Round Rock Express. 

“Secondhand Lions” 
Year released: 2003 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Tim McCanlies 
Stars: Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment 
Production notes: The shoot used nearby Cele Store in Manor as the location of a fight scene between Duvall and some locals. Janice Fuchs, who has worked at the store for 38 years after her parents bought it, said her father, who owned the store at the time, was an extra. The movie used a nearby farmhouse as the exterior for the character’s main residence. 

“Friday Night Lights” 
Year released: 2006 
Locations: Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto 
Directors: Various 
Stars: Connie Britton, Kyle Chandler, Taylor Kitsch 
Production notes: The Pflugerville Panthers’ football field served as the backdrop for the fictional Dillon Panthers in the pilot. The location moved to Del Valle when the real Panthers needed the field for practice. The show also incorporated game footage from the local team into the show. 

“Idiocracy” 
Year released: 2006 
Locations: Round Rock, Pflugerville 
Director: Mike Judge 
Stars: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews 

“Friday the 13th” 
Year released: 2009 
Location: Round Rock 
Director: Marcus Nispel 
Stars: Danielle Panabaker, Jared Padalecki 

“From Dusk Till Dawn,” Season 1 
Year released: 2014 
Location: Hutto 
Directors: Various 
Stars: D.J. Cotrona, Eiza González, Zane Holtz 
Production notes: Hutto restaurant The Texan Café served as the backdrop of a scene. 

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” 
Year released: 2014 
Location: Pflugerville 
Director: Michael Bay 
Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Mark Wahlberg 
Production notes: Local firefighters rushed to the filming location after a fire broke out in a home the crew was using to shoot a scene. The 100-year-old home was saved.