I’m not quite sure what to make of Jon Favreau’s family friendly genre romp, COWBOYS & ALIENS. Sure it has a fun sounding high concept, with cool actors like Sam Rockwell, Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, not to mention the smoldering heat of Olivia Wilde (below)…but will it be something our beloved genre can claim as its own? Maybe it’s just the title similarity, but I’m getting the feel of a live action MONSTERS VS. ALIENS. Yup, I’m a bit worried.
Now that I’m done burying the lead, let’s get to what this here article is really about. You see, the first image from COWBOYS & ALIENS just surfaced, and while it’s not a whole lot to get the blood boilin’, it’ll have to suffice for now. I emphasize now, because I’m sure Favreau will take to his Twitter account to give us updates rather soon. So stay up!
Also starring Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, Noah Ringer, Keith Carradine and Heavy D (pairing Carradine with Heavy D is quite a feat) – COWBOYS & ALIENS goes something like this:
1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
The movie opens July 29th, 2011.