If you’re a fan of Deadwood, this is the news you never thought you’d actually read. Ever since the show was abruptly cancelled in 2006 there have been plans for a film (even two films, at one point).
Proving almost impossible to finance, it looked like it was never going to happen. Now, finally, the cameras have started rolling and the Deadwood movie is officially underway.
Showrunner David Milch has written the script (which will probably be about 50% Shakespearian poetry and 50% swearing) and long-time series director Daniel Minahan is directing, with all the main cast returning to their roles including Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Paula Malcomson, John Hawkes, Anna Gunn and Brad Dourif.
The series arguably had a great ending but it was definitely a bit abrupt – and there were still plenty of loose ends to tie up. The film will pick things up 10 years later, with anyone who left the town coming back for a party to celebrate South Dakota’s statehood.
According to HBO’s official release, “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”.
Whilst that tells us literally nothing about the actual plot of the film, if you read it again in Al Swearengen voice, putting a few “fucks” between every other word, it’s just about enough to make it sound exciting.
There’s no word yet on when the Deadwood movie will arrive, but we can probably expect it sometime next summer. As long as it’s not another 12 years, we’ll be happy.