Warner Bros. May Remake‘The Wild Bunch’(Shoot Me) and‘Westworld’(Which is OK) | /Film

When talking about the screenwriter hire for Warner Bros.’proposed rebootofLethal Weapon, I mentioned that there was a lot of potential remake news coming out of the studio today. Well, here’s the rest. {viaTHR} What happened is that exec Jessica Goodman, a 13-year vet at the studio, has left, and projects that were on her desk, or hidden at the bottom of one of her‘to-do’ piles, have been distributed among other execs.

The result is a new lease on life for a handful of possible remakes that have been dormant for some time. They includeSam Peckinpah‘s seminal‘end of the West’ filmThe Wild Bunch, the aforementionedLethal Weaponreboot, and a new version ofWestworld.

First up, I really can’t see any problem with remakingWestworld. Originally made by Michael Crichton in 1973, the original is practically begging for a remake. You can’t quite replace Yul Brenner, who played a robot cowboy who runs amok at an immersive amusement park for adults, but modern effects might do wonders for the story. Sure, Mr. Crichton later one-upped himself by writingJurassic Park(robot cowboys are one thing, and real dinosaurs quite another) but there’s still room for a new version. I’d rather see Warners doing original films, but as remakes go this one doesn’t rankle.

But then there’sThe Wild Bunch. That one rankles a hell of a lot. Word is that the success of the Joel and Ethan Coen version ofTrue Gritis to blame (or credit) for this one floating back to the surface. I didn’t think anything could make me dislike the success ofTrue Grit, but I guess there’s got to be a downside to everything.

So let’s get this out of the way: besides being Westerns the two original films are in no way comparable, and besides being Westerns, there’s no reason to use theTrue Gritremake as justification forThe Wild Bunch.

Many thousands of words have been written praising and analyzingThe Wild Bunch, which presented onscreen violence in a way that was new and shocking at the time, and which remains potent despite the fact that dozens of imitators have recycled its approach. (Safe to say that withoutThe Wild Bunch, there would be no John Woo.) I won’t recycle all that effort here.

Sam Peckinpah’s original features a stellar cast of leading men and character actors (William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, Ben Johnson, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones) and represented the director’s triumphant return to the silver screen after difficulties with his filmMajor Dundeekept him from working for a few years. It isn’t just a major point in the ever-escalating graph of cinematic violence, but a tender and heartfelt character study about men whose time has passed. I don’t care who you hire to write, the result would beThe Wild Bunchin name only. Let it be, please.

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