It’s the 1990s all over again, as dual Wyatt Earp flick battle it out to be the first to cinemas. Back then it was Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, and now it’s the indie flick The First Ride Of Wyatt Earp (starring Val Kilmer, and shooting now) and Warner Bros with Wild Guns.
THR reports that the studio has just bought T.S. Nowlins spec script, which is said to have shades of Tombstone and Sherlock Holmes (doesn’t every script have to have shades of Sherlock Holmes these days to get any interest from studios?). Set shortly after the Civil War, it follows legendary gunslingers Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday as the duo team-up to rescue the daughter of Sitting Bull, who has been kidnapped by a powerful Shaman with mysterious powers and who is terrorising the Western plains.
Hmm, so we’re not going for a straightforward biopic here. The script sale is the result of increased interest in historical action following Sherlock Holmes and also in the western, particularly after True Grit. And while Jonah Hex failed last year, with Cowboys & Aliens arriving this summer, many are expecting an increased appetite for a mix of effects and the wild west.