Boy howdy, folks. You'd better sharpen your spurs, clean your six-shooters and guzzle down a bottle or two of your preferred sarsaparilla, because Warner Bros. has just announced that they've wrangled Mel Gibson to direct and co-write a remake of director Sam Peckinpah's 1969 Western THE WILD BUNCH. According to Deadline, who exclusively broke the news this afternoon, Gibson will pen the script with ONCE A PILGRIM scribe Bryan Bagby.
In THE WILD BUNCH, an aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the Industrial Revolution gets underway, causing the "traditional" American West to disappear around them. As the group make their way across the plains, they soon learn that a posse is in hot pursuit led by a former partner who they'd done dirty in a past dealing. The original Western action adventure starred Wiliam Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sanchez and Ben Johnson as the rough n' tumble wanderers, who performed based on a script written by both Peckinpah and famed television writer Walon Green.
In the past, Warners has tried and failed to mount a remake of the highly-regarded Western, though the studio now seems quite confident with Gibson at the helm. For the moment, the BRAVHEART and LETHAL WEAPON star is hard at work while readying his WWII drama DESTROYER. Gibson will direct the aforementioned pic that has Rosalind Ross adapting the screenplay from the John Vukovitz novel. Gibson's DADDY'S HOME 2 co-star Mark Wahlberg will lead the film.
We'll be sure to bring you more details on Mel Gibson's THE WILD BUNCH as they mosey on down the pike.