Ian McShane Can Do Both ‘Deadwood’ Movie and ‘American Gods’
The prospect of a Deadwood revival movie is heating up now that creator David Milch has turned in a complete script, but assembling the cast is another matter. Thankfully, the movie’s most vocal proponent came prepared, as Ian McShane would balance Deadwood with Starz’s American Gods.
It was McShane himself who revealed during American Gods press that Milch finally delivered HBO a completed movie script (one co-star W. Earl Brown called “stunning”). There remains the question of when McShane might find time to actually reprise the role of Al Swearengen, but according to Entertainment Weekly, his American Gods contract was written with exactly that in mind:
Typical actor contracts forbid doing projects at other networks. But McShane is no typical actor, and since the Deadwood movie is very important him, sources tell us his American Gods contract specifically states that he can do the HBO movie as well — as long as the Deadwood production dates do not conflict with his Gods schedule.
One down! Of course, that still leaves W. Earl Brown, Kim Dickens, Justified lead Timothy Olyphant, Jessica Jones alum Robin Weigert, Breaking Bad star Anna Gunn, Paula Malcolmson, Molly Parker, and many more. For those who missed out, Deadwood ran from 2004 to 2006, showcasing the rise of Deadwood, South Dakota from frontier gold prospecting camp to fully-annexed territory.
We’ll see if HBO actually moves forward on the script, but will the whole Deadwood cast prove so accommodating?