The long-awaited Deadwood movie is finally happening.
Production has started today, Nov. 5, in Los Angeles on HBO Films’ Deadwood movie, the network announced Monday. Creator David Milch is returning to write the feature, which features original cast members and is directed by Daniel Minahan, who also helmed four episodes of the short-lived HBO series.
In their announcement, HBO also shared the first synopsis for the forthcoming feature, which is set ten years after the events of the original series:
In the Deadwood film, the indelible characters of the series are reunited after ten years to celebrate South Dakota’s statehood. Former rivalries are reignited, alliances are tested and old wounds are reopened, as all are left to navigate the inevitable changes that modernity and time have wrought.
Deadwood aired on HBO for a three-season, 36-episode run from 2004-2006, during which the show picked up a loyal cult following and became one of the network’s most acclaimed shows. Deadwood landed at No. 7 on Paste’s list of the best HBO series of all time earlier this year.
HBO has also confirmed the cast members returning for the forthcoming feature: Ian McShane (Al Swearengen), Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock), Molly Parker (Alma Ellsworth), Paula Malcomson (Trixie), John Hawkes (Sol Star), Anna Gunn (Martha Bullock), Dayton Callie (Charlie Utter), Brad Dourif (Doc Cochran), Robin Weigert (“Calamity” Jane Canary), William Sanderson (E.B. Farnum), Kim Dickens (Joanie Stubbs) and Gerald McRaney (George Hearst) are returning, joined by cast newcomer Jade Pettyjohn (Caroline).
News first broke in 2016 that then-HBO president Michael Lombardo had given Milch a commitment to make a Deadwood movie, but fans have long been skeptical about whether the project would actually come to pass. The movie received a formal green light at HBO in July, when HBO programming president Casey Bloys also revealed that Milch had delivered a completed script for the movie, per Variety.
At the time, Bloys said the feature was aiming for a spring 2019 air date.