Posted in: Fox, Movies | Tagged: alamo drafthouse, searchlight pictures, the french dispatch, wes anderson

Austin, Texas Changes Street Name to Honor Filmmaker Wes Anderson

In a tongue-in-cheek moment, the city of Austin, Texas, honored one of its prodigal sons (attending the University of Texas in Austin) on November 8 in acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson, who's probably rumored to have never heard anyone ever say one negative thing about any of his work. Austin mayor Steve Adler decided to go out of his way to…wait for it…rename West Anderson Lane, dropping the first "t" and declaring it "Wes Anderson Lane." The street is located north of the downtown area, which also happens to be where the oldest remaining Alamo Drafthouse in the city is. The theater chain documented the extravagant changing of the sign along with Anderson's comments sequencing and music similar to his filmmaking style with title cards and all even having a few dressed up as the cast from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).

"Hello, this is Wes Anderson. I'd like to thank Mayor Steve Adler and my friends at the Alamo Drafthouse for changing the name of West Anderson Lane by one letter at least briefly to my name. When I was a student at the University of Texas, most of the signs at West Anderson Lane say 'W Anderson Lane' so for me I always saw it as my street already, but now it's official for this short period of time. I hope it will be extended. No one has given me any indication that it's possible, but I hope there is a chance. I hope to be in Austin before the 'T' gets added back on and returned back to its original name. Thank you and I appreciate this very much."

As mentioned by /Film, Austin also gave honorary hometown status to Mike Judge, Elijah Wood, and Quentin Tarantino. Anderson's latest film, The French Dispatch, which stars Benecio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson, is currently playing in theaters.

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