There are far too few Western films in production now. We’re big fans of the genre, from the classics through to the currents, so whenever word hits that a new old west film is saddling up, we’re on it quicker than the fastest hands in the west.
Dexter “Wild Bill” Fletcher is setting up to make such an old timey flick, and he’s tapped into some Strong talent to make it so. Literally.
Mark Strong will be joining Fletcher on Provenance, an epic western set in Arizona. “I’ve always loved Westerns but have never been able to be in one,” Dexter said to The Guardian.
I tried to work a lot Western ideas into Wild Bill and I feel really lucky to be able to actually get to make one of my own, in real Western country.
Plot details happen to be rarer than a gold prospector with his own teeth, but what we do know is that Strong will be joined by Sammy Williams, who happened to be in the previous Fletcher film.
The BBC is coughing up the cash needed for the production, but it’s unclear yet as to whether Strong will be playing white hat good guy or a black hat varmint.
I fyou haven’t seen Wild Bill yet, do yourself a favour and track that down. It’s a slick mix of action and bad parenting, mixed with British gangsterism, in which Dexter swopped acting for directing with great success.
And if he can bring that flair for style and substance to the old West, I’m going to be firing off blanks in my six-shooters in giddy anticipation.
Last Updated: June 26, 2012
