"As a trial lawyer, you act every day"

Attorney Mark Lanier goes Hollywood in new filmed-in-Houston movie, Puncture

Houston attorney Mark Lanier at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of "Puncture"
A Heights bungalow turned temporary movie location in March 2010 for filming of"Puncture"
Photo by Sarah Rufca
Official movie poster
Chris Evans on the set of "Puncture"
Chris Evans
"Puncture" directors Mark Kassen and Adam Kassen

It's not every day a Houston legal case gets the Hollywood treatment. But Houston is at the center of Puncture, a legal drama that filmed around town last year and premiered last week at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In addition to Harris County courtrooms, there's another Houston legal institution pictured in the film — trial lawyer Mark Lanier is not only a character in the narrative, but he plays himself in three scenes.

"They first came to me to get information about this case," said Lanier. "I've met 80 million people thinking of doing a movie on something who want to come and talk about a case."

He didn't think much about it until the directors came back and asked if they could use his name for a character in the film.

"I had them send over the scenes to make sure the character wasn't carrousing or doesn't say or do anything untoward, otherwise I didn't have a problem with it. I'm thinking the movie will never happen anyways. Next they called my assistant and asked 'Would Mark consider playing himself in the movie?,' and I said I would."

Lanier's previous theater experience is limited to directing a play in college, but according to him, "as a trial lawyer, you act every day."

Puncture stars Chris Evans (Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four and soon to be Captain America) as a drug-addled lawyer who who takes on a health supply company in hopes of saving lives by forcing the manufacture of safer needles. Though it's based primarily on a Houston case, Lanier says the plot is actually an amalgam of several similar cases with "a lot of Hollywood" thrown in.

"What I tried to do in the performance was pretend that this was really happening in life and there just happened to be cameras around, so it would look as natural as possble," says Lanier. "I've held plenty of press conferences on the court steps, so I tried to look at it look at it as holding a press conference; I've gone to many settlement meetings and walked away from settlement offers, so in my brain I was just doing my normal job."

In addition to Lanier's scenes at the courthouse, his house also makes it onscreen as the home of the opposing lawyer.

"My wife and I were joking that in one scene you can see a cup towel on the stove. Well, the lawyer that lives in house in the movie is not the most honest, upright, caring, ethical guy. He does whatever it takes to get it done and cares more about winning than the truth. And this towel, you can't make out the writing, but it has a passage from Joshua: 'As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.' We got tickled pink, we kept imagining the pop-up video."

Lanier says making it to the premiere of the film at the Tribeca Film Festival was "really cool," and that like true celebrities, Lanier and his wife walked the red carpet while taking pictures of the wall of photographers taking pictures of them.

Puncture has picked up an international distributor, and is hoping positive feedback from Tribeca will attract a domestic distributor. But regardless Lanier says there will be at least one showing in Houston.

"No matter what, I'm getting a DVD and I'll have a screening in my house," he says.

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Concert News

Jack Johnson rides into Houston on surf-themed 2026 tour

Photo by Tahnei Roy

Jack Johnson will play at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on August 30, 2026.

Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, known his for laidback surf-rock music, will embark on the SURFILMUSIC Tour in 2026, which will include a stop at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on Friday, August 28.

The expansive 43-date North American tour, which starts on June 19 in Gilford, New Hampshire, will have three separate legs.

The three Texas dates — The Woodlands on August 28, Austin on August 29, and Dallas on August 30 — will be part of the second leg, where Johnson will be joined by Lake Street Dive.

The tour is Johnson’s first since 2022 and will celebrate a new era of music, film, and environmental connection rooted in his 20+ year career.

Johnson is touring in support of a forthcoming soundtrack, scored by Johnson and Hermanos Gutiérrez for a new documentary, SURFILMUSIC, that chronicles Johnson’s evolution from surfer to filmmaker to musician.

The film, which will be released in 2026, weaves through the making of his iconic surf films Thicker Than Water (1999) and The September Sessions (2000), which paved the way for his music career.

It celebrates the lifelong friendships and ocean-driven community that shaped Johnson’s path, and features many of the surfers who appeared in the original films, including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and the Malloy Brothers.

Johnson released his first album, Brushfire Fairytales, in 2001, and he has gone on to put out eight other albums, most recently Meet the Moonlight in 2022.

Fans can register for the Jack Johnson presale at jackjohnsonmusic.com, now through Sunday, November 9. The presale begins Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10 am local time and runs through general on-sale date of Friday, November 14.

Jack Johnson SURFILMUSIC 2026 Tour Dates

June 19 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
June 20 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
June 21 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
June 24 – Saratoga, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 26 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27 – Philadelphia, PA – Highmark Mann Center
June 28 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
June 30 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre
July 1 – Canandaigua, NY – CMAC
July 3 – Burgettstown, PA – Pavilion at Star Lake
July 4 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
July 5 – Grand Rapids, MI – Acrisure Amphitheater
July 7 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
July 8 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
July 10 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
July 11 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
July 12 – Shakopee, MN – Minnesota Quarry Amphitheater
August 18 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
August 19 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 21 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
August 22 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park
August 23 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
August 25 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
August 26 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater
August 28 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 29 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
August 30 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
September 1 – Riverside, MO – MORTON Amphitheater
September 2 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
September 3 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
September 4 – West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
September 6 – Stateline, NV – Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
September 26 – George, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre
September 27 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
September 28 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
September 30–October 1 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre
October 3 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
October 4 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
October 6 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
October 9 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
October 10– Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
October 11– Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl

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