Paramount Theatre Announces Star Wars, Pink Flamingos, Sin City for Summer Classics Film Series

Throughout his career, Robert Rodriguez has been a fixture at the Paramount Theatre, premiering almost every one of his films there. Now he'll become a fixture outside too, as the theatre adds him to the Avenue of Paramount Stars as part of the opening weekend of this year's Summer Classic Films Series. (Photo by Rachel Parker)

Mark your calendar: The Paramount Theatre has announced when Robert Rodriguez will be getting his star on the Avenue of Paramount Stars. It’ll be part of what promises to be the biggest opening weekend yet for the theatre’s Summer Classic Film Series.

On May 25, the Spy Kids and From Dusk 'Til Dawn director and mainstay of Austin's film community will join a roster of legends of the grande dame of Congress Avenue that includes musicians Delbert McClinton, Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Ruthie Foster, and actors Jaston Williams and Joe Sears. However, that’s just one part of the first wave of films screening as part Austin’s longest-running retro programming.

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca

May 24: The Paramount puts the classic into Summer Classic Film Series with a double bill of two immortal gems of the silver screen: the inimitable Nazi-smashing romance of Casablanca, and the terpsichorean glamor of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at their finest and most graceful in Irving Berlin’s Top Hat, both presented in 35mm.

Alexis Bledel in Sin City

May 25: The big night and the big ceremony. RSVP now for free here for a place at the unveiling ceremony under the Paramount marquee, and then make sure to buy a ticket for a very special screening of Sin City at 7:30pm, complete with Q&A with Rodriguez and star Alexis Bledel.

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

May 26: The Summer series is in part about introducing kids to classics, and in part about getting classics off their mobile devices and back on the big screen. So get ready to introduce your young ones to a true classic the right way, with a screening of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Plus, for the undoubtedly huge mass of adults in the audience, stick around for a special screening of Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise, the first of a series of events presented with Hyperreal Film Club.

Cookie Mueller, Divine, and Susan Walsh in Female Trouble

June 8: Get sleazy with an incredible double bill celebrating the 50th anniversary of John Waters’ trash masterpiece Female Trouble paired with Pink Flamingos. Even better, the director will be in attendance for a special Q&A presented by John Doe.

Tickets for all these screenings are available now at austintheatre.org. Look for the rest of the months-long lineup in May.