David Milch’s script for the Deadwood revival has been delivered to HBO

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

There's been talk of some sort of continuation or conclusion to Deadwood ever since the HBO series came to an end over a decade ago, but part of me never believed that it would happen. After the sets were dismantled and the cast had moved on to other projects, it seemed that Deadwood was, well, dead. Then, in 2015, rumours sprung that series creator David Milch was having "very preliminary conversations" with HBO about resurrecting the series in the form of a movie. A little too early to break out the peaches, but HBO's programming president at the time, Michael Lombardo, later confirmed the news when he announced that he had given Milch the green-light to move ahead.

We haven't heard all that much about the revival since then, but now Ian McShane, who played Al Swearengen on the series, has told TV Line that David Milch's "two-hour movie script has been delivered to HBO," before adding that "if they don’t deliver [a finished product], blame them." McShane said that he's spoken with Milch "about some of" the Deadwood script and that he'll be "seeing him for lunch[soon]." Despite the promising move forward, this isn't a guarentee that Deadwood will return, so keep those fingers crossed. Ian McShane said that "we’d all love to do it… It would be nice to see all of the old gang again." Indeed it would.

Deadwood is one of several HBO shows which ended before its time, so getting to spend just two more hours in that world would be quite the treat. As with all good things, we'd likely leave wanting even more. Ian McShane will next be seen in American Gods, the upcoming Starz series based upon the Neil Gaiman novel. The actor will play Mr. Wednesday on the series, a mysterious figure who recruits Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) as his bodyguard as he sets out across the country to gather the old gods for the inevitable confrontation with the new gods.

American Gods will debut on Starz on April 30th, so be sure to check out a review from our own Alex Maidy!