Matthew McConaughey applauds during the unveiling of a plaque honoring the renaming of Alamo Drafthouse Mueller as the Matthew McConaughey Cinema in Austin on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. The dedication was followed by an advance screening of McConaughey’s film “The Rivals of Amziah King.”
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Matthew McConaughey’s career took off after meeting a casting director at a bar in Austin. More than 30 years later, he has a movie theater named after him.
On Monday night, Alamo Drafthouse Mueller officially became the Matthew McConaughey Cinema, giving the Academy Award-winning actor a permanent place in an Austin theater — and another reason to say, “alright, alright, alright.”
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The dedication ceremony brought together McConaughey, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Alamo Drafthouse representatives to celebrate the actor’s career, his connection to the city and the creative community that helped launch him.
For McConaughey, that history began more than three decades ago with an encounter in an Austin bar that led to a small role in Richard Linklater’s 1993 coming-of-age comedy “Dazed and Confused.”
“I feel like I just started a few years ago,” McConaughey said Monday night, reflecting on the role that changed the trajectory of his career.
“I went to the right bar in Austin, Texas, met a guy named Don Phillips who was casting for ‘Dazed and Confused,’ and we got kicked out of said bar,” he recalled.
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McConaughey has often described acting at the time as something he expected to pursue almost casually — a hobby rather than the beginning of a career that would eventually take him from Austin to Hollywood and, in 2014, to an Oscar for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club.”
The city makes it official
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, right, presents Matthew McConaughey with a proclamation declaring Matthew McConaughey Cinema Day in Austin during a ceremony at Alamo Drafthouse Mueller on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. The theater was renamed the Matthew McConaughey Cinema in his honor.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Now, the theater where Austin audiences will watch movies bears his name.
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Austin Mayor Kirk Watson was on hand Monday to proclaim Aug. 10, 2026, as Matthew McConaughey Cinema Day, delivering one of the city’s ceremonial proclamations in honor of the occasion.
“In a night like this where we get to celebrate iconic things about Austin,” Watson said, “Alamo Drafthouse, Matthew McConaughey. Our creative spirit of this town is really special to me.”
The proclamation went on to celebrate McConaughey’s career and his affection for the city.
Matthew McConaughey looks at a plaque commemorating the renaming of Alamo Drafthouse Mueller as the Matthew McConaughey Cinema during its unveiling in Austin on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. The dedication was followed by an advance screening of McConaughey’s film “The Rivals of Amziah King.”
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
“Whereas renaming the Alamo Drafthouse in Mueller is a wonderful way to celebrate his professional accomplishments and celebrate someone who genuinely loves this city, and whereas it’s alright, alright, alright.”
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McConaughey laughed at the formal language.
“That’s a lot of whereases and a couple of therefores,” he said.
Back where it all began
Matthew McConaughey poses with moviegoers before an advance screening of “The Rivals of Amziah King” at Alamo Drafthouse Mueller in Austin on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. The screening followed a dedication ceremony renaming the theater as the Matthew McConaughey Cinema.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The theater chain has previously honored filmmakers and actors by giving their names to individual locations, placing McConaughey among a small group that includes Christopher Nolan, Spike Lee, Pam Grier, John Hughes and Bong Joon Ho.
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But the dedication was also something of a homecoming for McConaughey, whose connection to Austin has remained a defining part of his public identity even as his career took him far beyond Texas.
From left, Matthew McConaughey, actress Angelina LookingGlass and director Andrew Patterson pose for a photo on the red carpet during a ceremony renaming Alamo Drafthouse Mueller as the Matthew McConaughey Cinema in Austin on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. The dedication was followed by an advance screening of their film “The Rivals of Amziah King.”
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The ceremony was followed by a screening of “The Rivals of Amziah King,” marking McConaughey’s return to the big screen after a five-year break from shooting movies. The film, directed by Andrew Patterson, premiered at the South by Southwest Conference & Festival in 2025 and stars McConaughey as a beekeeper who has become a keeper of sorts for his community, welcoming back a former foster daughter, played by breakout actress Angelina LookingGlass.