S. Craig Zahler‘s ascent has been quick and undeniable. To most, the name completely unknown just a year back — unless you’re a voracious reader of western novels, I suppose — and in the short time since he’s premiered the acclaimed writing-directing debut Bone Tomahawk, has set another feature, and is now working with the duo responsible for one of 2015’s biggest hits. His name isn’t lighting up the board quite yet, but something is clearly hitting the right nerves.
According to Deadline, Zahler’s novel Wraiths of the Broken Land has landed at 20th Century Fox and as a respective writing and directing job for Drew Goddard and Ridley Scott, who’ll use the material to make a Martian reunion. This will probably be a rougher experience, so long as loglines can indicate tone and approach: circa 1900, a pair of brothers, their father, a Native American, an ex-slave, and a gunman — who together form an outlaw gang called the Plugfords — set out to rescue two girls (the brothers’ sisters and father’s daughter) who’ve been kidnapped and forced into prostitution in Mexico, leading to “horror, noir and Asian ultra violence.”
Being that his beloved Blood Meridian may (or may not) be taken, and given his oft-stated desire to create a western, Scott’s likely found a sweet spot in Zahler’s material. But with Alien: Covenant currently shooting and potential titles perpetually on the horizon, let’s cross our fingers rather than hold our breath.
In the meantime, watch Scott discuss his career: