Deadwood fans are still cautiously giddy at the news of a full-length version of our favorite profanity-splattered Shakspereon western. Deadwood unceremoniously canceled on June 5, 2006 Fans were left with a fragmented and ponderous third season after creator and primary writer David Milch decided he wanted to work on the HBO surfer sap opera ‘John from Cincinnati.” (which was immediately canceled)
In the aftermath, Milch agreed to make a pair of two-hour television films, but HBO executives and the otherwise newly contracted actors at various times over the years put the odds of that happening as slim to none.
But good things come to hooplheads that wait and HBO announced a few weeks back that ‘Deadwood: The Movie’ was happening. This was backed up by W. Earle Brown, who plays Al Swearengen’s hang-dog muscle Dan Dority verified on Twitter that the movie was in post-production.
Then came an official announcement from HBO with a trailer. Canned peaches all around!
Today we get a full-length trailer (see below) trailer highlighting more of the excellent cast (Calamity Jane!) The trailer also treats us with the perfectly placed Colter Wall song ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop.” This is a nice treat though no surprise as Deadwood has always featured great roots music.
Wall’s song being included appears to have been taken him by surprise as he heard the news while working on his ranch. He responded on social media.
Though the news of a movie finally being released is cause for celebration it comes with the bittersweet revelation that David Milch is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Deadwood: The Movie will premiere on HBO, May 31, 2019.
UPDATE>> Apparently Jason Isbell will have a cameo in the movie!
Since the mention in @RollingStone, its become public knowledge that @JasonIsbell visited #Deadwood set for a few days. There were always plenty of guitars around that set and it didn’t take much prodding for Isbell to pick one up. He and I started playing “Pancho & Lefty  pic.twitter.com/bsKYDWqUhU
— W. Earl Brown (@WEarlBrown) April 26, 2019
Colter Wall’s ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop” on his album “Imaginary Appalachia.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WrXmhvXTA
I read the other day that HBO was releasing the “Deadwood Complete Series” on December 9, 2008. The set contains the three seasons of this great. gritty and profanes masterpiece that HBO and creator/writer David Mitch collaborated on before it’s untimely and abrupt ending at the conclusion of it’s third season just when it was hitting it’s stride. Part of the new package’s scant new bonus features is something called “The Meaning of Endings”narrated by David Mitch. I personally have not heard this portion of the DVD set, but my money is that this is gong to be Mitch trying to justify abandoning a great series in order to do an unproven and short-lived one (John from Cincinnati.) The set is priced at $179.97 ($125.99 on Amazon.)