“The Wild Bunch” may be coming back, four decades after the first release of Sam Peckinpaugh’s iconic Western.
Warner Bros. is launching development of a reboot of the 1969 feature with Tony Scott in early talks to direct the project, set up with Warner-based Jerry Weintraub.
Studio confirmed the project and the negotiations with Scott on Thursday. Jesse Ehrman is overseeing the project for Warners
The original, set in 1913 in Texas and Mexico, starred William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates in a story of a gang of aging outlaws ambushed during a robbery who flee to Mexico. The film provoked controversy due to its graphic slow-motion violence; in 1999, the U.S. National Film Registry selected it for preservation in the Library of Congress.
Weintraub produced last year’s reboot of “The Karate Kid” for Sony and has been developing a Liberace project since 2008 for Warner Bros. with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon attached to star and Steven Soderbergh directing. He produced two releases for Warners in 2007 — “Ocean’s Thirteen” and “Nancy Drew.”
Scott’s most recent directing credits were for “Unstoppable” and “The Taking of Pelham 123.”
Scott’s repped by CAA.
