Dallas’ Angelika Film Center & Café flashed back to the Wild West on Tuesday evening for star-studded red carpet.
“Once Upon a Time in Texas” held its world premiere at the theater and welcomed many cast and crew members to celebrate the film, which opens in theaters Oct. 16 and hits video-on-demand Nov. 17. The Western is a reimagined version of director Tanner Beard’s 2011 film “The Legend of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy,” complete with 20 minutes of new footage and a fresh digitally remastered coat of paint.
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Beard, who is from Snyder and is now based in Fort Worth, said the Dallas premiere felt like a long time coming.
When he made “Hell’s Gate” all those years ago, the finished product wasn’t his definitive vision because of time and his own young naivety. Now, 15 years later, Beard said he’s excited to give his cast and crew, and Texas, the story it deserves.
“It’s brand new but it’s old,” Beard told the Star-Telegram on the carpet. “I hope an audience likes it.”
‘Once Upon a Time in Texas’ in Texas
“Once Upon a Time in Texas” opens in 1905 San Francisco as Clive Standen’s character searches for his missing brother (played by Beard) and flashes back to 1870s Texas, as Lou Taylor Pucci’s character retells the events of “Hell’s Gate.”
When Pucci first heard about the new cut, he questioned if any filmmaker had ever done anything like this before in not only re-editing the film but adding new scenes. And the way Beard was able to tie the two storylines together, especially given the big cast of “Hell’s Gate,” was fascinating to Pucci.
“I got to play 20 years older, and I was 20 years older,” Pucci said. “But I still look the same. I don’t know what happened.”
The “Once Upon a Time in Texas” red carpet at the Dallas Angelika Film Center & Café on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.
Beard and Standen have known each other for some time, and when the filmmaker came a calling, it was an immediate yes.
Part of that yes was Standen’s enthusiasm for filming the new scenes at the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles, where films like “Psycho” and “Back to the Future” were made.
“It’s kind of like everyone’s dream to work there,” Standen said.
The “Once Upon a Time in Texas” red carpet at the Dallas Angelika Film Center & Café on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.
Russell Quinn, who is in an actor in the film and Beard’s cousin, believes that “Once Upon a Time in Texas” will go down in history as a classic film for those from the Lone Star State.
Not only will viewers learn about how Hell’s Gate at Possum Kingdom Lake got its name, but they’ll get to see a who’s who of Western figures cross paths like Doc Holliday, Bass Reeves, Belle Starr, Jesse James, Sam Bass and Quanah Parker.
“I think this is going to be really enlightening for a lot of Texas people,” Quinn said. “Also, if you’re not from Texas, it’s just going to be entertaining.”
“Once Upon a Time in Texas” opens Oct. 16 in theaters and hits video-on-demand Nov. 17.