Harrison Ford is continuing with his western movie phase as he finishes Cowboys and Aliens and moves on to Black Hats.  Black Hats is more of a straightforward western without the sci-fi pieces splashed in like Cowboys and Aliens.

Instead of Aliens, the antagonists will be Al Capone’s Chicago posse during Prohibition.  Harrison Ford will play the famous cowboy Wyatt Earp, the gambling, boxing refereeing, film consultant, sheriff, and famous gunslinger of the old west.

The script is based off the novel Black Hats: A Novel of Wyatt Earp and Al Capone written by Max Allan Collins under the pen name Patrick Culhane.  Collins is mostly known for his mystery stories as well as his graphic novel Road To Perdition that was adapted for the screen in 2002 with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Jude Law.

The plot of movie follows an aging Wyatt Earp, a former old west sheriff, and private eye in Los Angeles.  His old buddy Doc Holliday has died but revealed that he has a secret son in Chicago.

The son falls into trouble with Al Capone’s gang and Wyatt decides to save the young man.  Recruiting his old deputy and famous sports writer Bat Masterson, the two set out to save Holliday’s son.

Kurt Johnstad who helped write the script for 300 and has written the script for the upcoming movie The Last Photograph, began to write the script.  However, even with it in its first draft and Harrison Ford playing Wyatt Earp there is still no director to take the reigns of the project.  On a side note, Basil Iwanyk and Jason Netter are both producing the movie.

The history of Wyatt Earp is stretched just a bit in the movie by combining fact with fiction.  Wyatt considered Doc Holliday to be his best friend and Bat Masterson was his deputy in real life.  Wyatt Earp was at first a gambler but had moseyed his way into a life of law by becoming a Marshall or a Deputy in various western towns like Tombstone, Arizona, and Wichita, Kansas.

Earp became famous because of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral where he engaged in a gunfight that lead to three outlaw cowboy’s deaths.  He was known to be the deadliest gunman of his day.  Of course, Wyatt never saved his best friend’s son from the clutches of deadly mobsters.

Harrison Ford playing Wyatt Earp seems like a match made in heaven.  With Ford’s famous scowl, his no-nonsense “badass” attitude, and his charisma it would not be surprising if Ford was Earp incarnate.

Another exciting piece of the story is that it will take place during Al Capone’s golden years.  Empire Magazine said that the movie is “a battle of Tommy guns versus six-shooters” which is an action fans dream.

With the script still being written, the movie directorless, and the only big name associated with the cast is Harrison Ford, the tone and style of the movie could go in a hundred different directions.  Even still, Harrison Ford returning to the six-shooter?  It’s a no brainer.

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About the author

Peter Yannantuono