After more than a decade absence from the small screen, HBO’s western world is returning with a Deadwood movie scheduled for a spring release.
It had previously been alluded by HBO Programming President Casey Bloys that the film, marking the series’ first revival since its 2006 cancellation, would be headed back to screens this spring, though the news was confirmed by Deadline on Friday.
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The spring release date will make the film eligible for Emmy consideration in 2019. Deadwood‘s initial three-season run on HBO garnered eight Emmy wins along with 28 nominations.
Set in 1889, 10 years after the end of the series’ third season, the Deadwood movie will see the characters reunite to celebrate South Dakota’s statehood. HBO previously teased the film, stating, “former rivalries are reignited, alliances are tested and old wounds are reopened, as all are left to navigate the inevitable changes that modernity and time have wrought.”
Having begun production in July, details regarding the film have remained relatively sparse, though Carolyn Strauss, former HBO executive and an executive producer on the Deadwood movie, has stated that the movie will be “about the passage of time” and “the toll of time on people.”
“It’s mellowed some people and hardened others. And it’s about the town’s maturing and becoming part of the Union and what that event sets in motion, in a very personal way for the people that it brings in town and what ensues,” Carolyn Strauss, former HBO executive and an executive producer on the Deadwood movie, has said.
“The toll of time has not just struck Deadwood and the characters but all the people making it as well, you get to see the faces of people 12 years later,” she continued. “And it was really profound. Actors were crying at the table read — not necessarily from the script but the emotion of being back and doing something we all loved doing so much. You normally have a great experience and then it’s over. You don’t normally get the chance to do this in life. It was kind of a gift.”
The movie, written by David Milch, will see the return of much of the original cast, including Ian McShane (Al Swearengen), Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock), Molly Parker (Alma Ellsworth), Paula Malcomson (Trixie), John Hawkes (Sol Star), Anna Gunn (Martha Bullock), Dayton Callie (Charlie Utter), Brad Dourif (Doc Cochran), Robin Weigert (“Calamity” Jane Canary), William Sanderson (E.B. Farnum), Kim Dickens (Joanie Stubbs) and Gerald McRaney (George Hearst).
