With filming slated to begin soon, the casting details for the Coen Brothers‘ upcoming, six-part omnibus western “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs” are finally being revealed. And while there has been some confusion about whether it’s a feature or television project, the fact that Annapurna Television are housing ‘Scruggs’ should say it all.
Tim Blake Nelson gets called up by the Coens for the first time since “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” to lead the project, playing the title, singing cowboy character. In the segment “Near Algodones” about a high-plains drifter who doesn’t quite have the ambition for his various attempts at bank robbery and cattle driving, James Franco, Stephen Root and Ralph Ineson will star.
Meanwhile, Zoe Kazan takes the title character in “The Gal Who Got Rattled” which follows two trail bosses on the Oregon Trail and a woman on the wagon train who needs the help of one of them and who might be a marriage prospect for the other. Lastly, Tyne Daly will be one of the five passengers on the stagecoach headed to a mysterious destination in “The Mortal Remains.”
That leaves “Meal Ticket” (about an actor and impresario of a traveling show) and “All Gold Canyon” (about a gold prospector) left to be cast, but we can’t wait to see who the Coens round up.
No word yet which network will snap this up, but it’s pretty likely that all the major players are taking a look. [The Tracking Board]