The Long and Sordid Tale of the Lone Ranger Film.

As many of you know, there has been a Lone Ranger film in the works starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer as John Reid (aka The Lone Ranger). After Cowboys and Aliens didn't do as well as hoped at the box office, They cut back the budget significantly. There was actually a point when it wasn't even assured the film would be made but its back! Originally there was going to be Werewolves and supernatural elements that the Lone Ranger and Tonto would go up against.

The budget was supposed to be around 260 Million and they cut back the CGI which may mean that they cut out the supernatural elements. I hope this isn't true, with Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and Johnny Depp involved this could be next years new Pirates of the Caribbean in the West and an interesting take on the Lone Ranger.

This episode of Beyond the Trailer can tell you, better than I can, about the current development of the Lone Ranger movie and what we can expect from it:



The Lone Ranger is no Stranger to the Weird West, his forays into it, however, have usually been in comics and animated TV Shows. Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman did a Lone Ranger for TOPPS Comics that was FULL of Weird West goodness and then, of course, there was THIS which populated the Steampunk region of the Weird West. I love the old Filmation cartoons, although they weren't the best that animation had to offer.

Ill keep you informed on any new developments!

Also, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 2012. I'm sorry the Emporium has been so quiet lately. I'll admit, Ive been getting a little burned out and needed to recharge my battery. I might still need too, but the Emporium isn't going anywhere. I might not be ready for weekly updates just yet, but I'm not going anywhere.

See you soon!

Tim Truman returns to the Weird West with Hawken!

Besides Joe Lansdale, the other comics creator that does Weird Western Comics really REALLY well is Tim Truman. Both him and Lansdale worked together on the DC Jonah Hex Vertigo Minis, they also did a great Lone Ranger Weird Western for Topps. Well Timothy Truman is on his own (with his son Ben) on a new Mini Series called Hawken coming out in November. Here is the Official (very long) Press release:

Continuing the assent to San Diego Comic-Con, IDW Publishing today announced HAWKEN, an all-new, six-issue comics series illustrated and co-created by comics legend Tim Truman, best known for his reinvention of Jonah Hex and Hawkman, as well as his groundbreaking work on Scout and Grimjack. HAWKEN will be scripted by Ben Truman, who co-developed the series with his father.

HAWKEN tells the story of aging gunman Kitchell Hawken and his bloody, one-man vendetta against the Tucson Ring, a brotherhood of arms merchants and corrupt politicians who once employed him.

“Hawken has been many things in his day,” said Tim Truman. “Scout, tracker, scalp-hunter, raider, hired gun… But mostly, he’s been a nasty son-of-a-bitch.”

In each issue, the team will reveal new pieces of the character’s past. “Suffice it to say that after a lifetime spent doing some very bad things, Hawken had one last shot at redemption. The Ring took it away. Just what a any good Western revenge epic needs. However, in HAWKEN, that’s where things get strange.”

Strange indeed. Hawken has unusual companions on his war trail: The ghosts of every person he's ever killed, cursed to assist the old man against their wills. “In many ways, it’s not the ghosts who haunt Hawken. It’s Hawken who haunts them. They try to trip him up at every turn.”

Renowned for depicting hard-scrabble, violent heroes, Tim admits that the new book ups the ante. “Folks would be hard pressed to find a character as ruthless and pissed-off as Kit Hawken. He has good reasons for his rampage, and believe me, a rampage it is. For once, the bad men have truly messed with the wrong guy.”

Scripter Ben Truman, who also works as an educator in Tucson, described the project starting almost by accident. “My parents were visiting here in Arizona, and while driving through Sunset Crater Park I asked Dad if he’s ever seen any accounts where a man had survived a scalping. Somehow, that kicked it off. Hawken grew from the landscapes of each new place we visited: His name in Flagstaff, his past in Bisbee, the curse in Tempe, his vendetta in Tombstone. By the time we left San Xavier Mission, the first issue was plotted. A year later, we signed a contract with IDW. We all hope this story will grab people like it did us.

“HAWKEN takes people to unexplored corners of the Wild West, paying homage to spaghetti westerns and the like.” Along the way, the creative team grabs familiar Old West themes by the throat and twists them inside out.

“When I first heard about this project, I jumped at the chance to work with an industry legend,” says editor Denton J. Tipton. “Tim continues to produce at the highest level, and working with Ben has pushed him even harder to exceed expectations. And they surely don’t disappoint with HAWKEN.”

HAWKEN #1 (of 6, $3.99, 32 pages, duo-tone) will be available in stores in November 2011.

Sounds great! Also, here is an INTERVIEW Truman did in July with a few preview pages as well....Enjoy!

9-Page Preview of Helldorado!

What is Helldorado you ask?

Gunfights! Kung fu! Monsters! If Hammer Films had hired a band of Hong Kong filmmakers to create a Spaghetti Western, they’d have created HELLDORADO! An unspeakable act of violence has altered reality itself, and a supernatural evil looms over the town of El Dorado. The most horrific myths of the Far East threaten to engulf the American West in darkness, and the only thing standing between a vengeful Chinese vampire, its army of undead minions, and the end of humankind is an unlikely band of erstwhile heroes: an heiress, a gambler, an aging sheriff, his deputy, and a warrior priest. Horror, fantasy, kung fu, and Western action combine in this bizarre genre mash-up!

Whats interesting about this description is that Hammer actually DID do a mash-up film. It was a co-production with The Shaw Brothers, a Kung Fu Vampire film called THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES. It isn't a Weird Western but it IS a fun cheesy Kung Fu Vampire movie.....and Ive always considered Kung Fu films to be the Western genre of China (Just like the Samurai film is the Western genre of Japan)

But what about Helldorado? Well check it out HERE and see for yourself! It was written by C. Michael Hall with art by Martin Coccolo. No release date yet (that I can find) but Ill let you know as soon as I do.

Enjoy!

DEADLANDS One-Shot Comics!

So one of the bigger Weird West properties out there, that I haven't talked about yet (mostly because I don't know anything about it) has been Deadlands. From what I can gather, its the granddaddy of Weird Western RPGs. The term "Weird West" was even coined by them. I'm certain there has been a select group of people who have come to the Emporium expecting it to be a Deadlands site....but alas, I'm sorry to disappoint. I do hope they have found other things here to scratch their Weird West itch however!

Recently though, Deadlands has ventured into Comics. Before they had a series of Anthology Books called the Trilogy with No Name, that you can read about HERE.

Now, they have a growing series of One-Shot Comics. The First of them being The Devils Six Gun by David Gallaher & Steve Ellis:

In classic Faustian tradition, a weapons maker comes to America to pursue the American dream in the former colonies. Instead, he becomes immersed in plots and manipulations to gain unearthly power though the supernatural Ghost Rock. His goal? To make a gun that can kill anything, including the powerful Hellstromme! Its a journey that will cost him everything he loves, including his soul!

That sounds pretty darn cool! I would be tempted to run out and get this, but the whole series might be collected soon after the last one is published, so I can wait...maybe.

Next Up was Massacre at Red Wing by the writers of DC Comic's excellent Jonah Hex series Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Lee Moder:

Clementime is a young woman, a shaman, with a tragic past and a mysterious destiny. She's on a quest to learn the truth of her family and to seek vengeance against the man who ruined her life...her father. A tale of mysticism and mayhem by the writing team of Jonah Hex.

Last week, the next book came out Death was Silent:

A silent bounty hunter rides into a remote town, but the town holds dark secrets that may turn the hunter into the hunted.

And last on the list (At least as far as I know) is a book by the excellent Steve Niles and Francesco Francavilla called Hopeless Roads:

Masters of the macabre and noire, Steve Niles and Francesco Francavilla tell a frightening tale of a family who must struggle against overwhelming odds in the barren Deadlands of the Old West!

If I get a chance, Ill try and pick up Death was Silent and give you guys a report...until then however, you can see art from of the released books at the links above. As I learn more about about Deadlands Ill do more posts about it. Like Joe R. Lansdale, no respectable Weird West site is complete without SOMETHING involving Deadlands. Of course Deadlands is Hardly the only Weird West RPG out there.

There is also Stuart Robertson's RPG Weird West, and it's quite easy to pick up and play from what Ive heard. Ive been meaning to report on this, and will soon, but until then you can read about it HERE.

Ghoultown - Drink With the Living Dead!

Weird West band Ghoultown has a new video out for their song Drink with the Living Dead!

Also, If you are interested in some of their other music, they have a Youtube channel that you can visit HERE.

Enjoy!

The Cowboys and Aliens Interviews!

The Huffington Post has published a ton of video interviews that Jon Favreau did with different members of the cast and crew of Cowboys and Aliens. I love Jon Favreau, he seems like a really genuine guy, AND he's an accomplished interviewer. One of my favorite shows from the early 2000s was Dinner for Five where him and 4 other people (of various background) would site around and talk about whatever. Infinitely fascinating.

For these new interviews, which I guess have been dubbed The Cowboys and Aliens Interviews, Favreau interviews various people involved with the film...Including Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Writer Damon Lindelof, and Producers Kurtzman and Orci. The only ones missing are Daniel Craig (who is Sweden filming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Sam Rockwell. Everyone comes off as funny and genuine, especially Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Lindelof and of course Spielberg and Howard....Brain Grazer doesn't say much so I can't really gauge him, he mostly just sits around and looking crazy.

There is a lot of content to get through but its funny and fascinating and you probably won't notice the length. To get you started here is the first part of the Harrison Ford interview....you can see the rest HERE at their official Youtube channel, or at the Huffington Post link above....Enjoy!

The Civil War, Zombie style!

Yeah, I know.

Once again, our friend and frequent visitor to the Emporium Shonokin has given me the heads up on a new Zombie Civil War movie called Exit Humanity. I watched the trailer and it looks pretty good, Ill judge it fully when I see it. I certainly LOOKS independent, but the thing that struck me was the caliber of talent this film has attracted. Bill Mosley? Stephen McHattie?? Dee Wallace??? BRIAN COX???? Clearly this film has SOME money behind it....but really, it doesn't matter what a film looks like, its the quality of the story that matters.

I certainly like the Poster!

Exit Humanity is a story told through the written and illustrated journal of Edward Young as he battles his way through an unexplainable outbreak of the walking dead a decade after the American Civil War. After returning home from a hunting trip to find a horrific re-animation of his wife Julia, and that their son Adam has disappeared, Edward starts to record his experiences with the walking dead as well as the unexplainable outbreak that has torn his family apart, and threatens all of mankind. Throughout his harrowing journey Edward finds friendship, guidance and love amongst chaos and despair, when all else seems to be lost in a world robbed of its humanity.

If you want to read more about the film you can go to their OFFICIAL WEBSITE and it has some behind the scenes stuff.

Enjoy!