El Rey Network renews ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ early

In what will likely be the least surprising piece of news today, El Rey Network has announced that “From Dusk Till Dawn” has been renewed for a second season.

What? You thought that the flagship series for El Rey Network, a series created by the network's founder, wasn't going to be picked up? Duh.

Per El Rey Network, the second “From Dusk Till Dawn” season will be 13 hour-long episodes and will, again, be shot in Austin, Texas.

“This is a truly unique property and one that has really resonated for viewers,” blurbs Robert Rodriguez, who directed four episodes for the first season, which was based on his own vampire cult favorite. “It has been a joy to bring these characters back to life and have the opportunity to take our storytelling to a whole new place. We look forward to going back into production later this year and are excited about raising the bar even higher in season two.”

“From Dusk Till Dawn” premiered on March 11 on El Rey, but don't expect anything resembling ratings from the newly minted cable network. In addition to its American run on El Rey, “From Dusk Till Dawn” is premiering on Netflix in international locations including Canada, Ireland, Nordics, Netherlands, the UK and Latin America.

“Our decision to launch this ambitious original in just our first few months on the air was certainly bold but the payoff has been incredibly satisfying,” states El Rey Vice Chair Scott Sassa. “As the television landscape becomes even more crowded, it's important for El Rey Network to have a recurring and memorable franchise that speaks to our audience and allows us to break away from the noise of all the competition. 'From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series' is most certainly that kind of property and we are thrilled with the response from our affiliate partners, advertisers, viewers and the international community.”

“From Dusk Till Dawn” features D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz stepping in for feature stars George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino as the Gecko Brothers. The series also stars Robert Patrick, Jesse Garcia, Wilmer Valderrama and many more. 

El Rey also made a big casting splash earlier this week with the announcement that Alfred Molina will co-star in the soccer/spy drama “Matador,” which comes from writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Robert Rodriguez will direct the “Matador” pilot because… of course he would. “Matador,” which will premiere this July, also stars Gabriel Luna, Nicky Whelan and Neil Hopkins.

I've still only watched the first episode of the TV “From Dusk Till Dawn,” which was interesting mostly because it was Rodriguez reshooting his own movie. I'm curious how future episodes (or “past” episodes, since they've aired two other episodes since the pilot) feel and what happens when the actual vampires pop up. Maybe I'll get to that this weekend?

Has anybody been watching El Rey's “From Dusk Till Dawn”? Anybody?

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