Blame the success of this year’s 3:10 to Yuma for a rekindled interest in Westerns. While I wouldn’t mind seeing some more well-produced Westerns, the bad news is this year’s success was also a remake, which means we’re most likely in for a rash of remade Western stories.
Next on the remake slate: High Noon. The rights to the 1952 Gary Cooper/Grace Kelly western were picked up earlier this week by producer Mark Headley, actor Christopher Mitchum, and business partner Toni Covington, according to The Hollywood Reporter. With the rights in hand, the trio has formed High Noon Productions and are looking for a star and a director to headline the remake.
The production company hopes to start shooting early next year with a hopefully budget of $20 million. Of course, in order to shoot they’ll have to have a script, which might be difficult to obtain right now unless they’re just going to use the same script as the 1952 picture.
This isn't the first time High Noon has been remade. Tom Skerritt starred in a televison version of the movie, made in 2000. Somehow that wasn't enough evidence that this could be a potentially bad idea.
The original High Noon is about a town marshal who takes on a band of killers but is forced to do so on his own after the rest of his town refuses to lend a hand. Expect the sequel to maintain that story pretty closely, as Mitchem, son of actor Robert Mitchem, has wanted to remake the original for years. That kind of devotion typically winds up with a decent product, although the young actor is only serving as a producer right now.
