Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant are back in the Old West in the first images from HBO’s Deadwood movie. The Deadwood TV series was created by David Milch and ran for three seasons back in the mid-2000s. Set in what’s now South Dakota back in the 1870s, the show followed a motley collection of characters (saloon owners, prostitutes, prospectors, outlaws, and a sheriff) - some fictional, some inspired by real people - as they made their way and, in some cases, fortune in the camp-turned town of Deadwood.
Written by Milch and directed by Daniel Minahan (who also worked on the original show), the Deadwood film picks up ten years after the show ended. The movie brings the TV series’ still-living characters back to Deadwood to celebrate South Dakota’s statehood, even as “former rivalries are reignited, alliances are tested and old wounds are reopened” in the process. As for those who’re concerned the movie isn’t really happening after so many false alarms over the years: we now have actual photos to prove its existence.
EW has unveiled the first images from the Deadwood movie, which you can see below. The first of these photos shows McShane as Al Swearengen, back at his Gem Theater bar and looking… well, not a whole lot different than he did ten years ago. Meanwhile, Olyphant reprises his role as Seth Bullock - who’s been upgraded to a U.S. Marshal since last we saw him - in the second image.
As previously reported, the Deadwood movie will bring back most of McShane and Olyphant’s costars from the original series. Among those confirmed to return are Molly Parker as Alma Ellsworth, Paula Malcolmson as Trixie, John Hawkes as Sol Star, Kim Dickens as Joanie Stubbs, Robin Weigeret as Jane “Calamity” Canary, and Gerald McRaney as George Hearst (the closest thing the series had to a proper big bad). Unfortunately, however, Powers Boothe passed away last year and won’t be reprising his role as Cy Tolliver in the film.
The Deadwood cast has collectively gone on to do a whole lot of great work since the original series ended, which makes the prospect of them reuniting for any project an exciting one. That it’s a Deadwood film is all the more intriguing, in light of the original show’s creative accomplishments. It helps that now feels like as appropriate a time as any to revisit Milch’s profanity-fueled reflection on money, power, corruption, and the typically fine line between those who uphold the law and those who live beyond its borders. Here’s hoping the movie proves worth the wait, then.
MORE: Deadwood Star Reacts to ‘Gut Wrenching’ Movie Script
The Deadwood movie premieres on HBO in 2019.
Source: EW
