Posted in: Movies, TV, Warner Bros | Tagged: the wild bunch

The Wild Bunch: Thomas Jane Wants TV Series Adapt for New Generation

Thomas Jane (Frontier Crucible) spoke with us about why he believes we're ready for a TV adaptation of The Wild Bunch for a new generation.

When Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch was released in 1969, it featured an ensemble cast of on-screen legends with William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson, and Warren Oates, following an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico-US border trying to adapt to the changing modern world of 1913. Written by Peckinpah, Walon Green, and Roy N. Sickner, the film's Oscar-nominated screenplay was notable for its gritty and graphic nature. While promoting his latest Western, Frontier Crucible, Thomas Jane spoke to Bleeding Cool on why he would be interested in revisiting the film as a TV series with a rotating cast.

As many discuss the relevance of the Western in today's pop culture, there are plenty of modern examples of how it continues to resonate with audiences, especially when it thrives on TV, thanks to the likes of Taylor Sheridan and the empire he has built, thanks to shows like Yellowstone and Landman. There's also the 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma, the 2010 remake of True Grit from the Coen Brothers, the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven, and even the sci-fi western Outer Range.

Frontier Crucible Star Thomas Jane on Why He Thinks the Time Is Right for The Wild Bunch to See a TV Adaptation Today

When people talk about Western in a traditional sense, I always thought that genre translates well to other spaces in general. For instance, there are literal Space Westerns, which I always thought The Expanse exemplified in that sense, as it felt like the wild west dealing with chaos. As far as keeping in the Western genre, is there a film or franchise you want to revisit, perhaps star in, or appear in general? Some things that come to my mind are Gunsmoke, 3:30 to Yuma, and True Grit.

Today, you'd want to take the film The Wild Bunch, and you'd want to turn it into a TV show where these guys go from town to town, and they pick up different people along the way. People die, and other people fill in. The Wild Bunch took place at a time when the Old West was dying, and the new world was creeping in. Motor cars, electricity, and all that stuff were starting to creep in, and these older guys that came from a different era are trying to survive and keep the flame of the old west alive, and that would make a fantastic show.

Well Go USA's Frontier Crucible, which also stars Myles Clohessy, Ryan Masson, Mary Stickley, Eli Brown, Zane Holtz, Eddie Spears, and William H. Macy, is in theaters and on digital.

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