'Cry Macho' Trailer: Clint Eastwood Returns To The Manly Western Genre In September

Whether it’s the Man With No Name, the Outlaw Josie Wales, or the spectral hero from “High Plains Drifter,” Clint Eastwood has played countless iconic roles in the Western genre. The revisionist take on the genre fell out of favor with studios and audiences in the ’80s after Dirty Harry Callahan proved a steadier source of revenue. Still, older cinephiles best know the actor as the archetypal lone cowboy hero.

This year, Eastwood returns to his genre roots as he stars and directs in his next film, “Cry Macho.” Based on a 1975 novel by N. Richard Nash, “Cry Macho” follows an aging horse-breeder who forms an unlikely bond with an old boss’s son on a cross-country journey through Mexico. Here’s the official synopsis:

“Cry Macho” stars Clint Eastwood as a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in 1978, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man’s young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. Crossing rural Mexico on their back way to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man.

Alongside Eastwood, “Cry Macho” also stars Eduardo Minett, Dwight Yoakam, Natalia Traven, Horacio Garcia Rojas, and Fernanda Urrejola. N. Richard Nash co-write the screenplay with Nick Schenk, who penned Eastwood’s 2008 film “Gran Torino” and his 2018 film, “The Mule.”

“Cry Macho” has had an arduous path to the big screen. Nash originally conceived the story as a screenplay but repurposed it into novel-form after multiple rejections from studios. Nash sold the script several times before he passed away in 2000 without the film ever ultimately completed. Numerous actors have been attached to the project over the years, including Roy Schieder, Burt Lancaster, and even Eastwood in 1988. Arnold Schwarzeneggar was the last star attached back in 2011.

The 90-year-old Eastwood is primarily known as a director these days, but this is his first starring role in a Western since 1992’s “Unforgiven,” a film he also directed. “Unforgiven” was an overwhelming success for Eastwood, as it collected nine nominations and four Oscars at the Academy Awards that year, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Will “Cry Macho” be a return to Eastwood’s glory days in more ways than one? Find out on September 17, when the film simultaneously releases in theaters and exclusively on HBO Max.