HBO is moving forward with a 'Deadwood' movie. It's for real this time.
The Deadwood movie is happening.
Sure, fans of HBO's tremendous and criminally unfinished Western series from NYPD Blue creator David Milch have heard that promise before. But it's officially official this time, with a production timeframe, release target, and everything.
Confirmation comes from no less an authoritative source than HBO chief Casey Bloys, who said as much during his Television Critics Association session on Wednesday. Production is set to begin in October, and Bloys is hoping for a spring 2019 premiere.
Behind the camera, Milch is set to write and Daniel Minahan -- who helmed four episodes of the series -- will direct. And that's it. That's the extent of what we know. Bloys refused to say anything else.
"Let's take the green light and celebrate that," he said to ward off any follow-up questions (h/t The Hollywood Reporter).
There's a long, looooooooooong history of false starts and failed attempts to revive Deadwood that I won't get into here. For such an on-again/off-again project, it makes more sense to just wait and see what HBO reveals as more pieces fall into place. This series ended more than a decade ago; the fewer expectations you have, the better.
As for the series itself, Deadwood ran for three seasons on HBO, from 2004 to 2006. It was a critical darling, with eight Emmy wins, and it built up a small but passionate audience.
The series chronicles the life of a small-town community in 1870s South Dakota. While not built as a strict re-telling of history, Deadwood does feature a number of familiar names in major and/or recurring roles, including folks like Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and George Hearst (among others).
What course the movie treads now, a full 12 years after the last new episode aired, remains to be seen. But it's happening! It's finally happening! Probably!
Topics HBO
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
