Too many shows get cut down in their prime. For every long-running Law And Order, there’s a Firefly and a Dollhouse that only has a season or two to its name. Deadwood got lucky and logged three blood-soaked, profanity-laden years on HBO, treating its fans to a mix of Shakespeare and the Old West on a weekly basis. While there were talks of a movie after the show ended, much like Rome before it, nothing ever happened. At least, until today.
The news started with a tweet from Garrett Dillahunt, famed character actor and cast member of the dearly departed Deadwood. That tweet read as follows:
Keep in mind, tweets like these happen all the time. Cast members of film and television franchises love to speculate the futures of said properties, both active and dormant, in hope of stoking the fandom fires. So Dillahunt’s remarks aren’t anything terribly new in the world of "bringin’ it back for one last round." However, it’s where the story goes after this point that makes things interesting, as Deadline reported today that HBO is in "very preliminary conversations" to resurrect Al Swearengen and the gang for a cinematic opus to either continue or conclude the story started by David Milch so long ago.
While a Deadwood film is a juicy possibility, and seeing an actor like Garrett Dillahunt on the silver screen is always a treat, there’s one big question that looms over this entire enterprise: should they make a Deadwood movie? On one hand, Milch has gone on records as stating that he knew the last episode would be the show’s finale, thus informing fans that they should be comfortable with "Tell Him Something Pretty" being the cap on top of the vessel that is the story. However, anyone whose combed the bonus disc of Deadwood's complete collection Blu Ray set knows that Milch also had notes on where he wanted to go with the series’ future past that point.
It’s that last part that makes us side with the fans, and Dillahunt, on this matter. Deadwood did what most shows should learn to do and cashed out while it was on top. Instead of four good seasons, and three craptastic seasons to follow, there were three concentrated seasons of goodness. Knowing that there’s a little more story left to tell in the mining town where violence and sex are part of the air everyone breathes makes us want to see just where they could go with a little more time under their belts. But don’t take our word for it, as Garrett Dillahunt has the perfect end all, know all argument for this project to have its day:
Deadwood is available on HBO GO, HBO NOW, as well as Blu Ray, DVD and Digital HD. Anyone who tells you it’s not worth your time is, to paraphrase Al Swearengen himself, a filthy cocksucker.
