Sam Raimi to Direct Futuristic Western EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS

Sam Raimi is set to return to the western genre with an adaptation of the Radical graphic novel Earp: Saints for Sinners.  Per Heat Vision, “The film and graphic novel re-imagines Earp — best known for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where he fought alongside his two brothers and compadre Doc Holliday — set in a future in which he takes on outlaws in a ravaged society where the only boomtown left is Las Vegas.“  In a broad sense, it sounds akin to the upcoming video game Fallout: New Vegas.

Hit the jump for more details on Earp, a refresher on Raimi’s projects, and what else Radical is developing.

DreamWorks has acquired the rights to Earp and Matt Cirulnick, who co-wrote the novel with M. Zachary Sherman, will pen the script.  Earp is only the latest Radical property headed to the big screen.  The studio recently signed a deal with Sam Worthington’s new production company Full Clip to develop the graphic novel Damaged.  Worthington is also attached to star in an adaptation of their book The Last Days of American Crime.  The studio is also working with TRON: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski on Oblivion (no relation to the Bethesda video game) and Imagine Entertainment to develop the twisted fairy tale movie Legends.  Radical is going to be at Comic-Con this year.  They’re going to be worth attention.

As for Raimi, this is the third project on his slate.  While it looked like he would be going forward with an adaptation of the popular video game World of Warcraft, Heat Vision and Deadline confirm a tweet from Production Weekly last week that said Raimi’s next film would be Oz, The Great and Powerful based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.  Earp: Saints for Sinners would be Raimi’s first western since his 1995 cult hit The Quick and the Dead.