Brooke Bunny
Tommy Lee Jones will write and direct a remake of the 1972 western “The Cowboys”, says Variety.
The veteran thesp, who recently directed the film “The Homesman”, isn’t noted as being part of the cast, but we can hold out hope.
The original film starred legendary lasso-wielder John Wayne and an up-and-comer named… Bruce Dern.
TimeOut says of the original :
Offbeat and intriguing Western, with Wayne as a cattle driver who, deserted when his cowhands head off to a gold-rush, gathers together eleven schoolboys to help him get his herd to market. En route they are easy prey for villains; meanwhile, Wayne introduces them to the joys of shooting, drinking, whoring and killing. Although the film is well performed and beautifully shot by Robert Surtees, its ideology is highly objectionable, celebrating as it does the turning of the boys into hardened killers. Interesting to compare to The Shootist, in which young Ron Howard’s desire to emulate the skills of his hero, an ageing gunfighter (Wayne again) is criticised at every turn.
