Deadwood fans, rejoice! Despite what you may have heard or assumed over the past decade, the revival movie isn’t dead. It’s just moving as slowly as possible. But hey, at least it’s still moving, right?
HBO’s President of Programming Casey Bloys revealed during the 2017 Summer Press Tour that series creator David Milch has officially written a script for the long-awaited revival movie. That’s some good news for the series that went off the air 11 years ago. If there’s a script, there’s a much better chance that it will get made than if there was no script. And if it’s a GOOD script? Well, all the better. At least, that’s what our Deadwood-loving hearts are going to hold on to until there’s more movement on this project.
“I read the script and the one thing I was concerned about is I wanted a script that would stand on its own, that if you were a Deadwood fan it would make you happy and if you had never watched Deadwood, you could still enjoy it,” Bloys said. “I’m happy to say that David totally delivered on that. I think it’s a terrific script.”
But unfortunately, that still doesn’t mean that we can expect the Deadwood movie anytime soon. There are still many more steps that need to be taken before we get to revisit the Western drama, long considered to be one of the best drama TV shows ever developed.
“A couple of things: if we can do it for a budget that makes sense for us and find a director, and we’re talking to a few folks, and we can get the cast together which is no easy task because everybody is kind of all over the place, we’re inclined to do it,” Bloys said. “But we have to get over those hurdles. But as I said, the good news was the script was terrific.”
Deadwood was an American Western drama that ran for three seasons from 2004-2006. Set in Deadwood, South Dakota, it starred Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Jim Beaver, W. Earl Brown, Dayton Callie, Kim Dickens, and Anna Gunn, among many others in the ensemble cast. While the series was fictional, it was based on actual accounts from Deadwood residents in the 1870s about the history of the town from before and after the annexation by the Dakota Territory, and dealt with real issues like violence, immigration, prostitution, race, politics and misogyny.
The HBO series received a ton of critical acclaim, winning eight Emmys and one Golden Globe during its short run. Widely regarded as a series canceled way too soon because of some behind-the-scenes drama, there have been talks of reviving Deadwood with two made-for-TV movies since its cancelation in 2006. The talks have been going on for over a decade, and back in 2015 began again. This is the slowest moving project in Hollywood for sure, but it’s reassuring that the premium cabler hasn’t given up on it out of impatience. The fans certainly haven’t!
What do you think of this Deadwood revival movie news? Are you optimistic that it will actually happen, or is this a case of crying wolf too many times? Tweet me at @SydneyBucksbaum, and let’s discuss!
Images: HBO
