The Coens’ Ballad of Buster Scruggs Netflix series has turned into a movie

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It was announced last year that Joel and Ethan Coen would be developing an anthology series for Netflix titled The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western series which would feature six tales about the American frontier, but in a bit of a surprising move, that anthology series has now become an anthology movie.

The Venice Film Festival announced their 2018 line-up today, and included among the films was THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS. Variety later confirmed the news, saying that the film would have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before hitting Netflix by the end of the year. There will also be a theatrical release in order to qualify for Oscar consideration. In a statement, the Coen brothers said, "We’ve always loved anthology movies, especially those films made in Italy in the Sixties which set side-by-side the work of different directors on a common theme. Having written an anthology of Western stories we attempted to do the same, hoping to enlist the best directors working today. It was our great fortune that they both agreed to participate." Ha!

The upcoming film stars Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs, and also features Zoe Kazan, Liam Neeson, and Tom Waits. We don't know much about the separate stories in the film, but these were the descriptions of the six chapters back when it was still a Netflix series.

The first of the six is about a singing cowboy and is the title story.

The second, “Near Algodones,” is about a high-plains drifter whose own fecklessness dogs his attempts at bank robbery and cattle driving.

The third, “Meal Ticket,” follows an actor and impresario of a traveling show.

The fourth, “All Gold Canyon,” is about a prospector who happily finds a gold seam but then unhappily finds an evil encroacher.

The fifth, “The Gal Who Got Rattled,” follows two trail bosses on the Oregon Trail and a woman on the wagon train who needs the help of one of them and who might be a marriage prospect for the other.

Lastly, “The Mortal Remains,” about the five very different passengers on a stagecoach of mysterious destination.

The Venice Film Festival begins on August 29, 2018.