Coming from the director of the extremely successful IronMan franchise; Jon Favreau; the genre-mashing sci-fi epic/western Cowboys & Aliens is quickly becoming one of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2011, and has been gaining a great deal of attention recently; largely thanks to the impending release of its first official trailer (which will be making an appearance later this week).
Whilst we still don’t have access to a Cowboys trailer, an official teaser poster for the film has just been released online (and can be seen both on the left, and in full size at the bottom of the page), and features a moody looking cowboy clutching a rifle, and carrying what appears to be a very un-Earth-like gadget on his wrist.
The cowboy seen on the poster is most likely the film’s main star; Daniel Craig (Casino Royale); who plays a cowboy with no memory, that wanders into a town called Absolution with a strange device shackled to his arm, and promptly gets rejected by the townsfolk; who dislike strangers, and live in fear of a ruthless Colonel named Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford, Extraordinary Measures).
Things won’t simply end there however; as rather than following the classic format of simply overthrowing the town’s ruthless dictator; the town will be placed in jeopardy when aliens suddenly descend, attack, and abduct its residents; forcing them to accept the wandering stranger, who will join forces with the Colonel and his men, and help them to put aside their differences with other enemies (such as the local Apache’s), in order to come together to fight a common, and much more dangerous, enemy.
Craig will be aided by an elusive traveler named Ella; played by Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy); and will be joined onscreen by an impressive cast that not only includes Wilde and Ford, but Sam Rockwell (Moon), Clancy Brown (Highlander), and Walton Goggins (The Shield).
Jon Favreau will be attempting to embrace both the sci-fi, and western genres, with the film, and has taken inspiration from classics in both genres; such as The Magnificent Seven, and The Professionals, as well as the first two Alien movies, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind; in an attempt to effectively, and seamlessly, blend two very different genres.
Cowboys & Aliens (which is based upon the graphic novel of the same name) is due to be released on July 29th next year, and will be appearing (unlike practically all other planned summer blockbusters) in 2D; as it has been filmed on 35mm film (like the classic westerns whose tone it hopes to emulate), and thankfully not converted into 3D; but will have its first official trailer debuting on the web on Wednesday (see the countdown box above for the exact time), and accompanying the latest Harry Potter release at cinemas from the weekend.
