‘LONGMIRE’ PLAY-DATE, ‘JANE’ REPRIEVE, ‘BONE TOMAHAWK’ REVEAL, PLUS ‘EDGE’ TO CUT A PILOT, AMC ORDERS REDFORD WEST SERIES!

‘LONGMIRE’ RETURNS, NOW TO NETFLIX, THURS., SEPT 10!

The long-awaited 4^th season of LONGMIRE is ‘in the can’ and almost here!  What was A&E’s most successful drama ever – until they abruptly dropped it – will premiere in a little over a month on Netflix.   It will NOT be available on broadcast or cable or satellite – you’ll have to subscribe to Netflix to see it through the internet.  The entire ten-episode season will be available on that day, so if you want, you can binge-watch it in a sitting (and have no more LONGMIRE to watch for a year – ulp!).  All the regular characters are back, and season 4 will begin right were season 3 ended.  And here’s some great news: because Netflix is a pay service, there are no commercials, so the episodes will be not 48 minutes, but at least an hour long!  In my LONGMIRE article in the upcoming October TRUE WEST, I’ll be discussing the whole A&E/Netflix TV saga with LONGMIRE-creator Craig Johnson, and actor Zahn McClarnon, who plays Navajo Officer Mathias.

‘JANE’ RESCUED FROM RELATIVITY CHAPTER 11!

Finally some positive news for the long-embattled JANE GOT A GUN.  The film’s principal financier, lawyer David Boises, got JANE extricated from Relativity Media the day before the imploding mini-major filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The movie was set to be a co-release by Relativity and The Weinstein Company.  It hasn’t been announced yet if Weinstein is still in the mix.  To say star Natalie Portman’s first film as a producer has been beleaguered is putting it mildly.  It started when acclaimed writer/director Lynne Ramsay quit on what would have been the first day of shooting.  Star Jude Law went with her, the producers scrambled to recast, Acclaimed director Gavin O’Connor stepped in, Ewan MacGregor stepped in and, against all predictions, the movie was made.  The story concerns a woman who turns for help to her former lover when former associates come after her outlaw husband. 

‘BONE TOMAHAWK’ TO PREMIERE AT ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE ‘FANTASIC FEST’!

Kurt Russell, cowboys and cannibals come together in BONE TOMAHAWK, the new dark Western which will have its world launch at the 11^th annual Alamo Drafthouse Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.  The Fest runs from September 24^th through October 1^st.   The film also features Lili Simmons, Sean Young, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Michael Pare, and Oscar-nominee Richard Jenkins.  I had the chance to visit the set, and you’ll be reading my interview with writer/director Craig Zahler soon. 

ROBERT REDFORD’S ‘THE WEST’ COMES TO AMC SUMMER 2016

When you’re Robert Redford, you don’t need to audition.  No pilot was required for AMC to sign up for eight one-hour episodes of THE WEST, a docudrama series from Sundance Films that had once been announced at the Discovery Channel.  A new look at familiar bad men and good men of all shades, like Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Jesse James and Billy the Kid, the series will feature commentaries by actors known to the genre, including James Caan, Tom Sellick, Ed Harris and Keifer Sutherland.  It’s planned to run in the summer of 2016, alongside the final episodes of HELL ON WHEELS. 

WAYNE DIEHL ON THE ‘WRITER’S BLOCK’ GUEST THURSDAY NIGHT!

On Thursday, August 6th at 8 pm, Wayne Diehl, author of THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF MISSY MONTAIGNE, will be joining hosts Jim Christina and Bobbi Jean Bell for an hour of talk on their weekly show, Writer’s Block, on L.A.Talk Radio.  You can listen live (at ‘Listen Live 2’) HERE.  You can call in live at 818-602-4929.  And if you miss the live broadcast, or want to catch up on earlier shows, you can find podcasts of them HERE 

PILOT BASED ON ‘EDGE’ BOOKS ORDERED BY AMAZON

George Gilman’s THE EDGE Western novels and characters will be the basis of a series pilot for Amazon.  Written by the prolific English author in the early 1970s, to follow up with his successful novelizations of the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood trilogy, they are cold and violent spaghetti westerns on the page.  Shane Black, who wrote and directed IRON MAN 3, will co-write with Fred Dekker, direct and exec produce.  Max Martini, the SEAL Commander from CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, will play Josiah Hedges, aka Edge, out to avenge his brother’s death.  Ryan Kwanten, of TRUE BLOOD fame, will play Edge’s quarry, the likable son of a senator, secretly a sadistic monster.    

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

So much new Western news!  And people keep asking me, ‘Do they make Westerns anymore?’  Duh!  Have a great week, folks!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright August 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved