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Where Have Western Movies Gone?
John Wayne’s Academy Award-winning movie True Grit was released in 1969 and took the box office by storm. It was considered that the remake of the movie in 2010 was going to perhaps resurrect western movies, bringing back a rebirth of Texas rangers, sheriffs and cowboys to the film industry.
That production of True Grit is set as a traditional western, written and produced by the Coen Brothers and Steven Spielberg. The movie starred Hollywood actors Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, two of the most popular actors in the film industry.
True Grit was considered a film that could possibly revive westerns, with not many well-received western movies appearing on the big screen over the last 20 years. Indeed, prior to its release, the 1999 feature Wild Wild West was perhaps the most prominent western to receive a blockbuster box office launch.
The World Loves a Western Theme
Despite Wild Wild West – a big screen adaption of the famous 1960s TV series, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek – attracting poor reviews, its quirky, steam-punk action, comedy and theme ultimately resonated with an audience hungry for more Hollywood westerns.
The Wild Wild West theme has ever since been popular around the world, spawning western-themed restaurants, western-style fancy dress and Wild Wild West family board games. Online gaming companies have even invested in the popular name for players to win cash, with casino sites such as royalswipe.com featuring the NetEnt-developed Wild Wild West slot game. So, perhaps the western theme has lived on in other ways?
The western theme was probably first brought to life when John Wayne appeared on big screens. Not only was Wayne one of the biggest starring actors for western movies, but also an award-winning filmmaker. His first roles were working for Fox Film Corporation and he eventually got his break when he claimed the leading role in the movie The Big Trail in 1930.
The Revival of the Western with True Grit?
The film industry hoped that the 2010 revival of True Grit would bring back to life the popularity of western-themed movies. With a revenue of $252 million against a budget of $38 million at the box office, True Grit certainly paved the way for Hollywood filmmakers to resuscitate western movies.
Film aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that True Grit was positively reviewed by 96% of critics (based on 262 reviews) with an average rating of 8.4 out of 10, which is an incredible comparison to Wild Wild West. For instance, an excerpt from The Guardian review claims: “True Grit is a harsher, more sombre film than the Wayne version, the tone chillingly wintry rather than gently autumnal, the music less jaunty, more religious and pastoral. It’s also funnier, yet never inviting the description “comic western.”
That being said, in the seven years since the film premiered, we’ve yet to really see another successful western film appear on our cinema screens. Is the time right for the genre to be revived yet again? The next western to be released is Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story, due out in November 2017 and starring Trace Adkins, so time will soon tell.