When Tony Scott died in 2012, he left behind more than a few unfinished projects, including a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s iconic Western, The Wild Bunch.
L.A. Confidential screenwriter Brian Helgeland was attached to write the script for the remake of The Wild Bunch for Tony Scott, and he spilled a few details about the project while speaking with Inverse, including that it would have been set in the modern day.
“I also wrote 45 pages of The Wild Bunch for Tony to direct before he died. Sadly, I always say that I’m still on page 45 of that project,” Helgeland said. “It’s pretty violent and set in the modern day. The plot revolves around L.A. rampart cops that were being sent to prison, but during the trial, they’re still technically free. So, they decide to head down to Mexico and rob a bank before scattering to the ends of the earth with the money. However, like the original, it doesn’t go as planned.” That would have been something to see. I think we all miss Tony Scott.
The original movie starred William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, and Edmond O’Brien as it followed an aging group of outlaws looking for one last big score as the “traditional” American West disappears around them. The film’s graphic violence made it rather controversial upon release, but it’s now regarded as one of the greatest Westerns ever made.
Helgeland added that his next project is also a remake of a classic Western. “I’m attached to direct a remake of The Professionals, which was a Western that originally starred Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin,” he said. “The script is finished, and we’re trying to cast it. The hook is really good: It’s about two guys who have to deliver a ransom for a kidnapped woman.“
The last we heard of any potential remake of The Wild Bunch was back in 2018 when it was announced that Mel Gibson was set to direct the project as well as co-write the script alongside Bryan Bagby. It was later reported that Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Dinklage were in early talks to star in the film, but we haven’t heard anything since.