Sam Peckinpah’s ultra-violent 1969 western epic The Wild Bunch is the latest movie classic to be given the remake treatment by Hollywood. The Passion of the Christ and Hacksaw Ridge’s Mel Gibson has been hired to direct the movie and rework a script that the studio had already been working from for a while. Mel Gibson’s The Wild Bunch remake is projected for a 2022 release.
With a stellar cast being lined up and Gibson promising a retooling of the original that will feel fresh and unique enough to justify its existence, things are looking up for this remake.
Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx and Peter Dinklage are in early talks to take part in the contemporized remake of the Western about a group of aging outlaws looking for one last score. There are also rumors that Jason Momoa will be coming on board, based on photos on his social media.
Bryan Bagby wrote the script with Gibson, and Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. Warner Bros is financing and releasing. Deals aren’t done but sources said the film looks on course to begin production in the fall. The film will be Gibson’s first film as director since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which won two Oscars and received four other noms including Best Picture and Best Director.
The Wild Bunch starred William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, among others, and was nominated for Oscars for original screenplay and score. The movie is considered the zenith in the filmography of Peckinpah, who also helmed such pics as Straw Dogs and The Getaway.
“I thought it was a bad idea at first,” Gibson recently admitted. “Why make The Wild Bunch again? Who would do that? I thought about it and I thought about it some more, and then I thought of a way [into the story]. A way to tell the story. So, I’ve been sitting in a room with a writer and it’s been a blast. So, it started as a bad idea, but it’s heading toward something that could be special.”
