“Wild Bunch” Japanese Theatrical Poster
Mel Gibson (Blood Father) has been recruited by Warner Bros to direct a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. Gibson is also co-writing the script with Bryan Bagby (via Deadline). The 1969 western, which has influenced popular filmmakers like John Woo and Quentin Tarantino, is known for its graphic violence and slow motion imagery.
The idea of a Wild Bunch remake/reboot has been lingering for some time. At one point, Warner hired David Ayer (Training Day) to write the script. Tony Scott (True Romance), who was set to direct, wrote about half of the screenplay with Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) before his death in 2012. There was even a moment when Will Smith was in talks to star and produce a modern day reboot.
The original – which starred William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sanchez and Ben Johnson – involved an aging group of outlaws who look for one last big score as the “traditional” American West is disappearing around them. According to The Wrap, the remake is expected to follow a disgraced D.E.A. agent who assembles a team to go after a Mexican drug lord and his fortune.
Stay tuned for more updates regarding this project. In the meantime, we will next see Gibson in front of the camera in Dragged Across Concrete, The Professor and the Madman, War Pigs – and his next directing gig will be Destroyer, a WWII drama starring Mark Wahlberg (The Big Hit, The Corruptor).
When Will Smith was attached to the remake with the DEA setup, it sounded interesting. I’m glad they’re sticking with that concept.
Considering how violent Hacksaw Ridge was, I hope Mel Gibson will bring that same amount of gravitas to the remake.
In terms of personal sensibility, I cannot think of another A-list director more suited to remake this.
Thinking the same. Mel is hardcore…. and i love it.
Walter Hill’s Extreme Prejudice(1987) was a modern re-make it all but name. Sounds like Gibson’s project will be closer to Hill’s, then the original.
The orignal’s violence often takes centre stage, but theirs a lot ore to that movie. One of it’s biggest themes is aging, and how the old West, was meeting the new slightly less lawless West. Pushing the gang to go work in Mexico, which of course leads them to their demise. There’s also a strong sense of loyalty in the film. Will these themes be rememered at all?, or will it just be a lot gung ho action, for the sake of it?.
“When you side with a man, you stick with him, and if you cant, like some animal, your finnished, were finnished” -Pike Bishop(William Holden)
Extreme Prejudice was pretty good, but I wouldn’t call it a loose remake. I definitely saw the “Peckinpah-isms” though. In fact, I’d like to think Walter Hill would still be able to do a straight up remake of The Wild Bunch.
The themes of Wild Bunch are what made it so good, so I would hope the new version includes them. I’m sure there’s a lot one can substitute for the dying days of the old west.
All the people who’ve been mentioned as potential directors, and I never even thought of Gibson. He’s a spot-on choice, though – for the lead and for the director’s chair. This is going to be violent.