I’ll admit that initially COWBOYS & ALIENS sounded pretty silly to me when I first heard about it. The more it moves forward, however, the more I think it has the potential to be something really fun, and not something resembling, say, WILD WILD WEST, which was my first concern. However, I’m sure we can all agree that director Jon Favreau has enough common sense, not to mention filmmaking chops, to avoid making that mistake.
Today Dreamworks has announced the official plot for the film. Plot? What plot? The plot is right there in the title, you dick! you might say. I wouldn’t be able to argue with you on that point (especially when you’re swinging a knife around like that), but it’s still worth reading, if only because it sounds a little darker than had been anticipated. Read on!
1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel 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 (Harrison 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.
COWBOYS & ALIENS is scheduled to open in JULY 2011.
Let’s hope Ms. Wilde strikes similar poses in the movie…