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Schrader announced last nite at the Critics Choice Awards that his next film will be Nine Men From Now, a Western starring Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe-- wonder if it's a sequel to Boetticher's film?

Schrader mentioned this project in a recent interview. Assuming this is not a spoiler, since it's the first thing he's said about the film.

Paul Schrader wrote:I have a project I’m working on for both Ethan and Willem [Dafoe], and one character is like Randolph Scott, the righteous lawman, and the other character is the slinky antagonist, the weasel. And so I was thinking, Ethan and Willem have both played both. They’ve both been an upright, they’ve both been weasels. So, which one should play which? Then I realized I could have it both ways, start Ethan out as the righteous one, Willem as the reprobate, and then at the beginning of the third act, flip ’em. So, all of a sudden, nobody in the story actually knows it, but all of a sudden they are playing the opposite roles.

bainbridgezu wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:21 pm Schrader mentioned this project in a recent interview. Assuming this is not a spoiler, since it's the first thing he's said about the film.

Paul Schrader wrote:I have a project I’m working on for both Ethan and Willem [Dafoe], and one character is like Randolph Scott, the righteous lawman, and the other character is the slinky antagonist, the weasel. And so I was thinking, Ethan and Willem have both played both. They’ve both been an upright, they’ve both been weasels. So, which one should play which? Then I realized I could have it both ways, start Ethan out as the righteous one, Willem as the reprobate, and then at the beginning of the third act, flip ’em. So, all of a sudden, nobody in the story actually knows it, but all of a sudden they are playing the opposite roles.

I am very, very excited.

A Western and Schrader, a match made in cinema heaven. And throw in Defoe. Bliss

Hawke was the best thing about the recent Magnificent Seven remake, showing a lot of genre authenticity. I’m looking forward to seeing him in another western. From Schrader’s description, this sounds more like Hellman than Boetticher.

Guess that means you should watch In a Valley of Violence now. That was a pretty weak film, but Hawke acquitted himself there as well.

Am I alone in feeling disappointment that a western is his follow-up to his best movie in decades? I felt him rejecting genre and instead making a low budget arthouse film was the best thing he could have done for his output. The last ten years of Schrader has been rough, but First Reformed was arguably the best film of his career.

I know this sounds a little pollyanna, but I'm just glad that Schrader can use this momentum to make something that, from a budgetary perspective, he might not have been able to make otherwise. It's not as though he's guaranteed some protracted career resurgence. We've also had some really knockout westerns in recent years, so I have no doubt this can't be a very good film despite its genre.

mfunk9786 wrote: Tue Jan 15, 2019 6:50 pm I know this sounds a little pollyanna, but I'm just glad that Schrader can use this momentum to make something that, from a budgetary perspective, he might not have been able to make otherwise. It's not as though he's guaranteed some protracted career resurgence.

I agree, I think Schrader's striking while the iron's hot to make a picture that's probably gonna be in the $8-10 million range on budget (First Reformed's budget was $3.5 million, Dying of the Light $5 million, Dog Eat Dog I'm sure was something similar).

And if it's anything like Boetticher's film, I think it's precisely the type of Western that Schrader should make right now (I need to check out that old script floating around for it).

In a podcast interview a few months back, Schrader talked about making a movie inspired by his brother, the late screenwriter Leonard Schrader. I wonder if this is that project.

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:28 pm Schrader announced last nite at the Critics Choice Awards that his next film will be Nine Men From Now, a Western starring Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe-- wonder if it's a sequel to Boetticher's film?

Schrader was on Kris Tapley's podcast, which dropped today, and mentioned that Ethan Hawke is no longer attached due to being greenlit for a series Hawke wrote himself.

Congrats to Hawke but sorry for Schrader as Schrader's description of the story made Hawke sound awfully perfect for his role.

Time for Schrader to help some other middle-aged actor give a career-best performance!

Schrader describes the film as: "If Malick and Lynch Took a Shit on the Script".

Haha what

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:28 pm Schrader announced last nite at the Critics Choice Awards that his next film will be Nine Men From Now, a Western starring Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe-- wonder if it's a sequel to Boetticher's film?

I think you mean a prequel.

I've recently just started going through the films of Budd Boetticher after seeing a gorgeous 35mm print of The Tall T at the Autry Museum here in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. I picked up the old Paramount DVD of Seven Men from Now and was listening to the commentary by Jim Kitses. Interestingly enough, he brings up the film Nine Men from Now. He mentions that his pal and former AFI cohort Paul Schrader was in pre-production in 1999 for Nine Men from Now that it was something of an anti-action film from the script he read. Not only that, but it was set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger as he was looking to expand his roles in his pre-gubernatorial career, but then withdrew to do the very Arnold-style film, Collateral Damage.