
Oni Press has a Weird Western graphic novel series called The Sixth Gun. These tales are being revamped for television and that means you may just catch them on NBC.
When I use the term Weird Western, I do so in a very loving manner. That’s the name many of us writerly and readerly types give to Westerns with a paranormal bent. Cowboys & Aliens, as well as Jonah Hex, would definitely fit into the category of a Weird Western.
The Sixth Gun is written by Cullen Bunn with illustration by Brian Hurtt. Here’s the description of Volume 1. Bunn and Hurtt are names to remember. another Oni book series of theirs, titled The Damned, is in development at Showtime. I’d say it’s time to break out the champagne.
During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time the Sixth Gun, the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way.
The girl at the center of the madness is Becky Montcrief. I can definitely see where this premise would make for intriguing television. Just mix Deadwood with Supernatural and I think you’d hook an audience.
Universal TV, along with the production company of Oni Press, which is called “Closed on Mondays Entertainment,” has agreed to produce the TV adaptation of the graphic novel series.
Carlton Cuse, who worked on the endlessly popular series, Lost, and screenwriter Ryan Condal, are teaming up to make the show a reality. Condal is working on the script as we speak and plans to executive produce the series with Closed on Monday’s co-founder Eric Gitter and Andy Bourne. Carlton Cuse is also hard at work on the Psycho prequel TV series called the Bates Motel, which will star the lovely Vera Farmiga at the A&E network, and he’s busy co-writing Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain pilot for FX. He’s shaping up to be quite the TV rockstar.
Bunn and Hurt like to add a twist of the supernatural to their graphic novel work. The Damned, for instance, takes place in the prohibition era, which is interesting enough for good crime and drama on its own. They toss in a black market soul trade and an ancient family feud. You’ve got to love that.
I hear screenwriter Ryan Condal is also piecing together a Hercules project at MGM. That could be interesting.
If I had to play the casting game for The Sixth Gun series, I’d say, let’s cast Adrianne Palicki as the female lead. She isn’t exactly tied up doing Wonder Woman, now, is she? She’ll appear next on the big screen in the Red Dawn re-make opposite Chris Hemsworth. In fact, Carey Elwes was going to star in Wonder Woman as well. He could play a male lead. Do you think he’d fit in a Western? Kevin Kline could also work. He did appear way back in 1999 in Wild Wild West.