Robert Rodriguez Launching "From Dusk Till Dawn" TV Series

Director Robert Rodriguez is launching his new El Rey Network with a TV series adaptation of his 1996 film, From Dusk Till Dawn. Production began this week in Austin on the 10-episode drama, which will premiere in early 2014 on the network, which launches in December. Rodriguez will direct the first two installments and is an executive producer. "If the movie's the short story, the series is the novel," Rodriguez said in a statement. "We have assembled an amazing cast and crew, and viewers can expect to be part of a wild ride when the series premieres on El Rey Network next spring." The series is based on the earlier cult film classic created by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. D.J. Cotrona will play Seth Gecko, a role first played by George Clooney, with Zane Holtz as Richie Gecko and Jesse Garcia as Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez, a new character. Don Johnson has a recurring role as Sheriff Earl McGraw. Dusk is described as "a supernatural crime saga" that focuses on the Gecko brothers, who are being pursued by the FBI and Texas Rangers after a bank robbery that left several people dead. The brothers take a family's RV and head for the Mexican border, but they stop at a strip club that is populated by vampires and must fight them to get out alive. El Rey Network is a 24-hour, English-language network founded by Rodriguez. It will feature original dramas, feature films, grindhouse genre, horror, sci-fi and "next-generation sports." The network will be carried on Comcast and Time Warner Cable systems. (usatoday)