The 1993 western Tombstone is a much loved entry in the genre. Not only was it successful at the time, but its fanbase grows with time as more people discover it.
A somewhat sanitised, unchallenging, and Hollywood friendly take on Wyatt Earp, it’s breezy and slick presentation saw off its rival production from Kevin Costner.
Original screenwriter, the late Kevin Jarre, was the original director. He was replaced by Cobra director George P. Cosmatos to salvage the film.
For many years rumors have swirled that while it was Cosmatos who had his name on the finished production. star Kurt Russell himself directed a lot of the movie.
Cosmatos passed away in 2005, and a few different versions of the story have been told.
Many years ago, co-star Val Kilmer previously said Russell essentially directed the film and worked hard to salvage things so that when Cosmatos came on board, he found things on schedule and moving.
Russell was out promoting Monarch: Legacy of Monsters when Rolling Stone asked him about this. Russell has always refused to talk directly about this:
“Tombstone will always remain a mystery. I made a promise to somebody that I won’t talk about things publicly. At the end of the day, I’m really glad that it came out as well as it did.
It had a group of fantastic actors and a writer that, in my opinion, wrote the best Western dialogue ever. And I always see it climbing its way up the ranks in the ‘Best Western’ conversation. I will say this: If I had not been around, Tombstone wouldn’t have, either.”
All this does it make me want to watch Tombstone again.
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