From out of a past that ne'er was comes a compendium of adventures and nightmares in an Old West where Monsters, Aliens, Dinosaurs, and Giant Steam Powered Machines fit nicely into the very same saddle bag.
The new international poster for Cowboys and Aliens was just released, as well as a quick behind the scenes video. I just found the video yesterday. I was hoping for more, it shows mostly footage from the trailers, but it has some behind the scenes stuff with them filming along with talking head interviews.
There is something I have to disagree with Steven Spielberg on, the original Graphic Novel wasn't very good. Any longtime reader of the Emporium should know that I hated the original graphic novel this is based on. It was incredibly derivative of generic action movie writing. However, the movie looks to be nothing like it, AND the idea is solid...sort of Independence Day meets The Valley of Gwangi, so I'm very excited! Please-be-good-Please-be-good-Please-be-good!
.....and its a good one. The first trailer was pretty darn good, this one kicks it out of the park! It really gets into the story more and some of the new footage they show is equal parts VERY cool, and a little unsettling (like what looks like some of the Towns folk hanging from alien crafted wires in some hidden location, creeepy). Also, as if the big budget Weird West-ness of it wasn't enough, it also has Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell, and Clancy Brown.....I mean Come ON! I can not wait for this film!
I really hope it does well so that the studios see that Weird Western ARE a viable genre to be explored and not just the fare of the passionate but (a lot of the time) either underfunded or under-talented lot. I guess we'll find out.
The official synopsis: Blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau directs Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in an event film for summer 2011 that crosses the classic Western with the alien-invasion movie in a blazingly original way: Cowboys & Aliens. Joined by an arsenal of top moviemakers—Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci—he brings an all-new action thriller that will take audiences into the Old West, where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world.
1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
Now, I'm not much of a Super Bowl/Football/sports watcher, but if anything got me excited for the big game it was the promise of some cool new trailers. Most importantly, (among others) Cowboys and Aliens!
Its basically a 30 sec television spot, with only a few new shots (like Daniel Craig jumping onto the wing of an aliens spacecraft, which reminds me of The Valley of Gwangi for some reason), but it still looks great. If you didn't check out the big game, here is the trailer in all its glory. You can also check out the official Website HERE if you haven't already.
It was fortunate that they released the new international poster for Cowboys and Aliens today. I was planning on posting a trailer commentary that Jon Favreau did and now I can kill two birds with one stone!
I love the new poster, I think I actually like it more than the first one. It feels like its in the vein of the original except that the "Cowboy" is clearly Daniel Craig now. I'm also liking it's style with the silhouetted figure rimmed with light, I hope all of the characters get posters like this!
If you click the image above you can see a bigger version!
Also, a couple weeks ago, MTV sat down Jon Favreau and had him do commentary on the trailer. There is some interesting stuff here as he talks about the film and some of his thoughts on certain decision he's made.
On another level, its interesting that MTV is doing this. As far as I know they haven't had other directors commentate on their trailers....Is it possible? A hotly anticipated Weird Western? I dont think there's any doubt about that, the trailer has surely caused a splash.
Personally I think this film is going to be huge, and will quite possibly reinvigorate not only the Western (as I'm certain True Grit might do too) but the Weird Western as well as studios start rushing to get that Cowboys and Aliens money. Lets just hope it does fall into a pit of crappy cheaply made films (we have enough of those already) but only time will tell...Until then enjoy!
The first poster for Cowboys and Aliens has been released and I gotta say...WOW! I was just reading a snippet of interview with Harrison Ford (where he quickly mentioned this movie) and he was saying that the film starts off very much a strong Western, then suddenly has a strange new element added too it, and then goes back to being a very strong Western again, except with this new element in the mix (the very definition of "Weird West" if you ask me). This poster feels very much like that. You have the dynamic cowboy pose, a gorgeous desert landscape, and a wristband made from alien technology. The poster says it all, and it looks great!.......but lets just hope the film is just a dynamic. This film is one of the strongest hopes for the Weird Western genre to come along since Wild Wild West (which, coincidentally, there is also some new news about that I'll report on later this week)
Its possible too that, with the release of the first poster, there might be a teaser trailer coming very soon. Ill keep you guys posted on the details!
Also, if you click on the above picture, you can check out the details in a larger format!
EDIT: So, quite unexpectedly (sort of), the new teaser trailer for the film was released today. Wow! It starts off with a bang and gets better throughout. Everyone looks great! AND We get our first look at Harrison Ford as Woodrow Dolerhyde (and Keith Carradine is in this?! Awesome!). I think the trailer will make a big splash, it looks great.
They've opened up the official movie site and there are pages to Twitter sites, Facebook, and Blogs....basically anywhere that people are talking about the movie and everyone seems to love it. Also there are pages with new images, videos and downloadable stuff. Keep it bookmarked, I'm pretty sure they will be updating quite frequently until the film is released next July.
So, the San Diego Comic Convention is over but some good stuff came from it! Mostly, relating to this blog, John Favraeu and the cast of Cowboys and Aliens came to talk about the film. Some footage was shown (although not much since they've only been shooting for 4 weeks) and the first official image was released (which you can click on to make bigger).
The Panel consisted of Favraeu, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach and Harrison Ford at his very first Comic Con ever (Apparently he was a little stunned at the reaction when he walked on stage)
Coming Soon.net was there at the panel, and wrote up a run down of the footage that was shown, and described it like this:
1) The first clip wasn’t super exciting and just featured a very grimy Daniel Craig ride up to a house on horseback, go inside and wash his face in the sink before inspecting a nasty wound on his stomach. He’s got a weird gold bracelet on his wrist. Before he could examine it closely, he’s stopped at gunpoint by none other than Clancy Brown who says only two people get shot like that: villains and victims. Craig says he doesn’t know which one he is.
2) Craig is sleeping in a jail cell when somebody spits on him from an adjacent cell. It’s Paul Dano, who taunts him and tells him he’s in a world of trouble when his father gets there. Craig pulls a very James Bond move and reaches through the bars and pulls Dano in to them headfirst, knocking him out.
3) Here’s the money scene. Dano and Craig are escorted in a police wagon and chained together, much to Dano’s terror. They’re about to ride off when a group of men on horseback arrive, led by Harrison Ford as Dano’s father. The sheriff tells Ford that they have to take Craig to see the judge but Ford wants Craig for himself, “Either you give him to me or I’ll get him myself.” Ford looks scruffy and pretty great in what little we see of him. Just as things are about to get heated, the men notice something in the sky. There’s a very skinny string of lights making their way towards them.
The lights get closer and closer, before they disappear. All of a sudden they reappear right above the small town as three or four alien ships that immediately start raining fire and blowing up everything in sight. The ships seem to beam down small circles of blue light followed by the fireballs that gave a little WAR OF THE WORLDS feel. In the midst of all the chaos and destruction we see some of the other characters; Olivia Wilde saves a small boy hiding under a house, Sam Rockwell tries to save his wife/girlfriend as escaping horses nearly trample her, and Harrison Ford looks perplexed/terrified. All of a sudden the side of the police carriage is blown open by the same blue light we see from the ships. Daniel Craig walks out wielding some sort of alien weapon on his arm (clearly the weird bracelet from the first scene). He looks down at it as if it’s new to him, then looks to the attacking spaceships and fires a blast that brings down one of the vessels on to the street below. The attack ends and the town slowly walks over to the crashed spaceship, led by Craig, who looks down at his arm as the weapon mechanically shrinks down back to bracelet size. He shares a look with Ford and the scene ends.
I just found this exciting bit of photography over at Paul Green's excellent Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns site. Jon Favreau has posted the first photo from the set of Cowboys and Aliens on his Twitter account! Filming commenced on June 10 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the film is set for release in July 29, 2011...Almost exactly a year from now!
After the Daniel Craig picture, and now this, I'm not exactly sure why I haven't kept an eye on Favreau's Twitter account, but I think that should change very soon, especially if he's going to keep up with this behavior!
Also, in related news, Walton Goggins has just joined the cast that also includes Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Noah Ringer, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine, Adam Beach, and Paul Dano.
Man! I just got really excited for this....What a cast! As I hear more news I'll pass it on....til then, Adios Pards!
Just a quick post today, since its apparently Cowboys and Aliens week. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that House and Tron: Legacy star Olivia Wilde will be taking the female lead in the new Cowboys and Aliens movie opposite Daniel Craig. Wilde will play a character named Ella who joins up with mysterious a gunslinger (Played by Craig) in an unlikely uprising against an alien invasion.
I'm excited that the film is coming together so quickly! And even though it isn't a Weird Western, per say, I'm also looking forward to the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit at the end of the year.....next year should be a fun year for Westerns and just movies in general!
According to Deadline Hollywood Daniel Craig is confirmed to take over the role of Zeke Jackson from Robert Downey Jr. in the film version of Cowboys and Aliens. This is, I must say, very exciting news for a couple of reasons. I like Daniel Craig, and this has major franchise possibilities. But even more importantly, It means that the film is very much alive, and that there is a new Weird Western on the horizon; hopefully a good one! With Jon Favreau's track record lately, I don't think that will be a problem.
As more info inevitably arises I'll post it here...but until then you can click HERE to read the story for yourself over at Deadline Hollywood
Its still a little early to give this report a definite YES, since negotiations are just now taking place, but British Actor Daniel Craig is in early talks to replace Robert Downey, Jr. in Cowboys and Aliens, as reported by Collider.com
Variety picked up the story and says this about it:
DreamWorks and Jon Favreau are in talks with Daniel Craig to play the lead role in "Cowboys and Aliens" after Robert Downey Jr. ankled the project.
Craig has been offered the role of Zeke Jackson in the pic, based on the 2006 graphic novel about a group of Apache Indians and Western settlers who resolve to patch up their differences when an alien spaceship crash-lands in their city.
Reps for Craig said it was too early to comment on whether the actor would board "Cowboys and Aliens," which Favreau is directing. Project is written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.
While it is still early days and Craig has not officially accepted the role, the thesp does have a long-standing relationship with DreamWorks, having appeared in "Munich" and "Road to Perdition."
With production on the next James Bond pic up in the air until the fate of beleaguered MGM is decided, Craig may have a open slot in his schedule to shoot "Cowboys and Aliens."
I have to say that, if this happens, Craig would be a really good replacement. He has a great Westerner face and he's a really good actor. He could, hopefully, bring a lot of presence to the role. I honestly didn't know who could replace Downey, Jr. but this could be inspired (if it happens).
