Clint Eastwood Western A Fistful of Dollars Getting a Remake After 60 years

One of Clint Eastwood’s best-known Westerns is getting a surprising remake. While it is hard to imagine anyone touching any of Eastwood’s genre-defining movies, Euro Gang Entertainment is developing a new take on A Fistful of Dollars, the first in the classic “Dollars” trilogy that also featured For a Few Dollars More, and, of course, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Although this kind of production can be seen as almost blasphemous, the new movie is not being produced by a group of amateurs looking for a quick cash-in on a popular IP. Euro Gang Entertainment is a company that has some industry giants at its heart, including Gianni Nunnari and Simon Horsman. Additionally, they will be joined by Italian producer Enzo Sisti, and Jolly Film, the producer of Eastwood’s original 1964 movie.

A Fistful of Dollars

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A Fistful of Dollars is a spaghetti Western film from director Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood. A Fistful of Dollars is notable for being Clint Eastwood’s big break in Hollywood and also for being the beginning of the “Dollars Trilogy.” The film was followed by For a Few Dollars More in 1965 and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly in 1966.

Release Date

January 18, 1964

Director

Sergio Leone , Monte Hellman

Cast

Clint Eastwood , Marianne Koch , Gian Maria Volonte , Wolfgang Lukschy , Sieghardt Rupp , Joseph Egger

Runtime

1h 39m

Writers

Ryûzô Kikushima , Akira Kurosawa , A. Bonzzoni , Víctor Andrés Catena , Sergio Leone , Jaime Comas Gil

Tagline

In his own way he is perhaps, the most dangerous man who ever lived!

Studio(s)

United Artists

Distributor(s)

United Artists

prequel(s)

For A Few Dollars More (1965)

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According to Deadline, the film is expected to be an English language production, but with the project only in early development there is very little else to report at this time. Casting, potential release dates and news of a director/writer appointment will follow in due course.

Hollywood Remakes Return to Tackling Classic Westerns

With movies constantly being remade on a rough-30-year cycle, the biggest surprise is probably that more Westerns have not already been subjected to the Hollywood churn in the last several decades. The announcement of A Fistful of Dollars now being on the cards generated the expected reaction on social media, with many questioning why it was necessary to remake a classic Western rather than writing a brand new one.

While Eastwood’s movie was itself an unofficial remake of the earlier Japanese movie Yojimbo – something that was proven after a court case which was won by creators Toho Studios – it seems that the idea of one of the movies that kickstarted the Spaghetti Western sub-genre finally being rebooted is more than some people can take.

With remakes and reboots being considered a staple of cinema, it is not surprising that even moves considered true classics are now being considered for a modern makeover. While it is hard to see exactly what a remake of movies like A Fistful of Dollars can bring to the party, it is worth remembering that one of John Wayne’s most iconic movies was given a remake that managed to very much live up to its predecessor; True Grit.

Related

The 15 Greatest Westerns Set in the Present Day

These films used the age-old Western genre and brought it into more familiar territory for audiences.

Wayne’s 1969 classic introduced the character of U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, a part that won the actor a Best Actor Oscar and one he played again in the sequel, Rooster Cogburn, in 1975. In 2010, Jeff Bridges starred as Cogburn in a remake by the Coen Brothers, and although the film earned itself 10 Academy Award nominations, including a nod for Bridges, it won none of them. However, the remake did manage to surpass the 1969 version when it came to reviews, with both critics and audiences scoring it higher.

We are still some time away from discovering if A Fistful of Dollars can deliver a similar feat, but just like Bridges stepping into the shoes of Wayne, someone is going to have a tough task ahead following in the footsteps of Eastwood.