With ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ set to hit theaters on July 29, lead actor Harrison Ford has already signed onto appear in another cowboy role, the aging Wyatt Earp in ‘Black Hats,’ according to The Hollywood Repoter. The film, which will be based on Max Allan Collins’ 2007 novel of the same name, will be penned by ‘300’ screenwriter Kurt Johnstad.
Black Hats follows Wyatt as he discovers his friend Doc Holliday had a son, now living in Prohibition-era New York City. While Doc is long dead, is son is now in trouble with rising mobster Al Capone. To take on Capone’s gang and to help save Doc’s son, Wyatt teams with one of his former deputies, Bat Masterson, who is now a famous sportswriter for the New York Morning Telegraph.
‘Black Hats’ producers, including Basil Iwanyk of Thunder Roads and Kickstart Productions’ Jason Netter, want to fully develop the movie before they approach studios. Brazilian company RT is paying for the script and the project’s development. RT’s Fernando Loureiro and Rodrigo Teixeria are also serving as producers.
Netter brought the book, which Collins wrote under the pseudonym of Patrick Culhane, to Iwanyk. The latter brought the potential idea to Ford, who’s known for being choosy about which roles he signs onto. But the actor quickly liked the idea of portraying a gunfighter who walks the streets of 1920s New York.
Written by: Karen Benardello
