Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell and Bridgerton vet Regé-Jean Page may not outwardly seem like they have a lot in common. But they're both big parts of major franchises that amassed audiences around the entire globe, they're genial and fun to watch both on-screen and off, and they're both ab-solute eye candy for audiences. So there's no doubt bazillions of people with Amazon Prime subscriptions will be pumped to know that Powell and Page are teaming up for a new streaming series to portray the iconic cinematic duo of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
This wildly exciting project is still in the early stages, so everyone keep those fingers crossed for the foreseeable future, but the currently untitled Butch and Sundance project landed a straight-to-series order from Amazon Studios, which beat out both Disney+ and Peacock, according to THR. The idea at this point is for Regé-Jean Page to take on the role of the outlaw gang leader Butch Cassidy (the alias of real-life train robber Robert LeRoy Parker), while Glen Powell would portray the loyal second banana the Sundance Kid (real name Harry Alonzo Longabaugh).
The new show will reteam Page with Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of the somewhat well-received Netflix sci-fi thriller The Gray Man, who serve as executive producers and spearheaders for this reimagining, and were also directly responsible for the aforementioned casting choice. While Powell hasn’t directly worked with the Russos before, their production company AGBO reportedly worked to get the Scream Queens vet on board in part because they all just like his work that much. No better way to land a job, I’d think.
Once the two stars were locked in behind the scenes, AGBO signed on The Eternals' co-screenwriters Kaz and Ryan Firpo to handle scripting duties for Butch and Sundance. While no directors have been confirmed, it's worth noting that both Page and Powell will also get executive producer credits for the new show, and will be involved in the creative process in some capacity. At this point, it's believed that the show will take an alt-universe approach to the characters' reality, in a similar vein to other revisionist fiction such as the past Amazon effort The Man in the High Castle.
This casting news may cause further Marvel rumors related to Glen Powell, who was at the heart of speculation that he was being courted to play X-Men leader Cyclops for the mutant team eventually breaking into the MCU. The actor has denied any such eye-popping conversations have happened, but working closely with the Avengers films' crafters and Eternals co-writers definitely won't deflect any future curiosity.
No one would deny that the two stars have a mighty hill to climb when it comes to bringing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid back to audiences. The original 1969 western, directed by George Roy Hill, starred two Hollywood icons in Robert Redford and Paul Newman, and has been showered with accolades over the years, from winning Oscars to landing in the National Film Registry.
Next up for Page is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves alongside stars Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, which ties into a completely different segment of pop culture fandom. Meanwhile, Powell previously signed on to co-write and star in Richard Linklater's action drama Hitman, which is still in pre-production mode.
At this point, there’s no release date set yet for the untitled Butch and Sundance series, and it's not been determined how many episodes the initial season will be, but our 2022 TV premiere schedule is a quick route to learning everything that does have an upcoming debut, while there are plenty of other great Prime Video series already available to stream.
