A remake of the Sergio Leone / Clint Eastwood classic A Fistful of Dollars (which was an unofficial remake of Yojimbo) is in the works
A few years ago, we heard that a TV series adaptation of one of the greatest Westerns ever made, the 1964 Sergio Leone / Clint Eastwood classic A Fistful of Dollars, was in the works at Mark Gordon Pictures. That project, which was described as a “contemporary retelling of the story,” has never made it into production – but it looks like we’re going to be getting a new version of A Fistful of Dollars nonetheless. Deadline reports that Euro Gang Entertainment, the company founded by producers Gianni Nunnari and Simon Horsman, is working with Enzo Sisti of FPC and Jolly Film, which produced A Fistful of Dollars, to get a feature film remake off the ground.
Deadline notes, “It’s still early in the process so production details are under wraps for now. This would most likely be English-language but that hasn’t been confirmed by the team and a writer, start date and cast have yet to be revealed.” I suppose we’ll also have to wait to find out if this is going to be a Western like the original, or a “contemporary retelling” like the TV show was going to be.
In the original A Fistful of Dollars, a stranger rides into a town known for the deadly rivalry between two of its factions-the Baxters and the Rojos. Instead of fearing for his life, the man plays the two sides to his own advantage. The film kicked off a trilogy that also includes For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
It’s difficult to imagine that a remake could come anywhere close to what Leone and Eastwood did with A Fistful of Dollars, but that film was itself an unofficial remake of the 1961 samurai film Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa. After seeing A Fistful of Dollars, Kurosawa wrote to Leone: “Signor Leone, I have just had the chance to see your film. It is a very fine film, but it is my film. Since Japan is a signatory of the Berne Convention on the international copyright, you must pay me.” Kurosawa and Toho, the company behind Yojimbo, filed a lawsuit and were awarded 15% of A Fistful of Dollars‘ revenue. Several other films have drawn inspiration from Yojimbo over the decades, with the 1996 Walter Hill / Bruce Willis film Last Man Standing being an official remake that moved the setting to Prohibition-era Texas.
What do you think of the idea of A Fistful of Dollars getting a remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.