|
Of course there is a chance some of the Sackett stories may become films or TV but it's never worthwhile to get your hopes up.
First of all, high expectations inevitably lead to disappointment. Currently there really isn't much of an increase in westerns in film, there is an increase of Taylor Sheridan productions, Yellowstone, 1883, Landman, etc. The powers that be in Hollywood generally come from a culture that is embarrassed by westerns (and many bad westerns encourage this embarrassment!). Once something is a success they attribute that success to any other factor, like the involvement of Sheridan or a star like Kevin Costner, rather than the genre.
It's pretty hard to make a western film these days without running afoul of all the stereotypes of the genre. I've been involved with a few, dating back 30 years, and even if you are there to try to fight off the silliness there are people who insist on it and you can't win every battle. Sometimes it's fun to see a filmmaker play with those stereotypes, think Silverado, but most of the time they just dumb the project down. Many western fans even like them without realizing how much they may be inhibiting things like better performances or greater meaning in the story.
I constantly hear the refrain, I want it to be just like the book. But that means the fan wants it to be just like his or her IMAGINATION of the book ... which is different from the imagination of others. Practical considerations are also an issue. The budget controls so many aspects.
We just completed a production of Flint. In the best of all possible worlds it would have been shot in New Mexico but we were forced to shift to Montana for budgetary reasons. Sometimes even more creative, and story critical, aspects must be adapted for similar reasons. Generally, when you start a film, and I don't mean shooting, I mean the SCRIPT, you cannot stop or even slow down. Everything has to be adapted on the fly and you work with what you are given or are able to scrounge. Sometimes this is a good thing, we've probably all heard the story about the mechanical shark in Jaws not functioning well, so they chose to show it as little as possible ... but often this just means that you get a lesser product.
In general films should never be compared to novels. One has to be faked into existence by hook or by crook, the other is a natural byproduct of your imagination creating the best entertainment experience for itself.
Could there be a future Sacketts series? Yes, if everything goes right. There are a lot of moving parts, however, the all have to sync up. I work on this sort of stuff every day ... but you see how little gets made.
|