i want you to hit me as hard as you can.
Since the earliest days of Hollywood, notable figures and incidents of the Old West have
been memorably captured in cinema. No list would be complete without the story of renowned lawman
Wyatt Earp and the events surrounding the fabled gunfight at the O.K. corral and the vendetta ride
that followed. The 1993 western Tombstone again put that story on the screen, giving actor Kurt
Russell one of his most iconic performances as Wyatt Earp, along with Val Kilmer's unforgettable
and quotable turn as Doc Holliday. I've not yet begun to defile myself. While Tombstone is now
considered a classic of the genre, the trail through production was fraught with drama, from
rewrites to rushed scheduling to revolving crew. Strap on your six guns and saddle up as we find
out what the [ __ ] happened to this movie! Westerns were a reliable movie staple from the
early days of cinema right through the 1970s, a decade that featured successes like
Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales and Robert Redford's Jeremiah Johnson. But by
the 1980s the western had fallen out of favor in Hollywood, the repercussions of the
infamously expensive dud Heaven's Gate. There were a few exceptions that rode onto
screens during the 1980s, but it was a pair of high-profile hits in the early 90s that started
to breathe some life and confidence back into the Western genre - Kevin Costner's Oscar-winning
Dances with Wolves and Clint Eastwood's Oscar winner Unforgiven. Around this time screenwriter
Kevin Jarre was working on an epic Western of his own. Jarre had written the Oscar-winning civil
war drama Glory and had previously dabbled in the Old West with the 1988 Kris Kristofferson HBO
movie Dead or Alive. He wanted to make a sprawling authentic Western and spent nearly a year on his
first draft. Historical consultant Jeff Morey, who had assisted Jarre with research, said
that his script redefined the western film. The Tombstone screenplay also made an
impression on A-list Hollywood talent, namely Kevin Costner. But the actor wanted to
shift the focus more onto Wyatt Earp rather than all of the secondary characters that were
prominent throughout Jarre's script. So Costner decided to mosey on, instead choosing to make
a competing movie with Lawrence Kasdan, who had previously directed him in Silverado. The script
for Tombstone made its way into the hands of Kurt Russell, who thought it was phenomenal and wanted
to take the lead role, but the project was already in rocky territory. After a series of hits in the
late 80s and the statues he collected for Dances with Wolves, Kevin Costner was also riding high on
the colossal success of the 1992 romantic thriller The Bodyguard. He had earned a lot of power in
Hollywood and he wasn't afraid to wield it, using that A-list clout to stonewall Tombstone's casting
and studio avenues. Tombstone wasn't the beginning of Kurt Russell's rivalry with Kevin Costner -
a few years earlier he had narrowly missed out on the lead role in Bull Durham, which Costner
landed despite Russell's actual experience as a minor league baseball player. But Kurt Russell's
faith in the Kevin Jarre script urged him forward. He navigated the Hollywood politics as best he
could and approached Andy Vajna for financing. Vajna, who had produced the Rambo movies and
Total Recall, agreed to a 25 million dollar budget through his Synergy pictures with Kevin Jarre
getting the opportunity to make his directing debut off the brilliance of his screenplay. Thanks
to Costner's heightened influence in Hollywood, Tombstone had been left with a single option for
release - Buena Vista, a subsidiary of Disney. That wasn't a big concern for Russell, who had
established his acting career at the Mouse House. The casting process had gathered Sam Elliott
and Bill Paxton for Wyatt's brothers Virgil and Morgan, with Powers Boothe and Michael
Biehn as Curly Bill Brocius and Johnny Ringo, leaders of the cattle rustling
outlaws known as the Cowboys. Joining the Earps would be gambler and gunslinger
Doc Holliday, played by Willem Dafoe. Wait, what? Yes, Kevin Jarre had wanted Willem Dafoe
to be your huckleberry, but Disney shot down that casting and insisted on a different actor.
Andy Vajna and Russell briefly considered having Kurt play Doc Holliday and bringing in Richard
Gere for Wyatt, but ultimately they decided on the studio's suggestion of Val Kilmer. While Dafoe
as Holliday is interesting to imagine, it's now virtually impossible to separate Kilmer from the
role. I'm your huckleberry, that's just my game. One of Jarre's inspirations when writing the
script was to create a significant role for actor Lisa Zane, with whom he was romantically involved
at the time and considered his muse. The pivotal role of traveling performer Josephine Marcus was
written with Zane in mind, but instead the part went to Dana Delaney, who had a higher profile
at the time after starring in the hit TV series China Beach. Ironically the part of Josephine's
stage colleague went to Lisa Zane's brother Billy. The cast was filled out with other familiar
faces - Stephen Lang, Michael Rooker, John Tenney, Robert John Burke, look it's Jason Priestley,
John Corbett, Thomas Hayden Church, Dana Wheeler Nicholson, hey there's Billy Bob Thornton, Terry
O'Quinn, Harry Carey Jr, Paul Ben Victor, and you guessed it, Frank Stallone. Even screen veteran
Charlton Heston makes an appearance. We would have also seen Robert Mitchum as part of the Clanton
family if he hadn't suffered a horse riding injury as filming began, but the actor was still able
to provide narration. Tombstone began filming in may of 1993 in Arizona, not all that far from the
original town, and it was under the gun right from the start. Disney wanted Tombstone in theaters
that Christmas, which put additional pressure on the movie's first time director. Kevin Jarre
was detail-oriented and dedicated to properly depicting the authenticity of the period, even
demanding the actors grow their own impressive facial hair - only John Tenney wore fake fuzz as
he was just coming off a previous acting job. And the actors were clad in period-appropriate wool,
despite the brutal desert temperatures. Jarre also wanted to see the title location as a cosmopolitan
boomtown. Production designer Catherine Hardwicke, who would go on to direct movies like 13 and
Twilight, was instructed to avoid the sepia tones of traditional westerns in favor of more rich and
lively colors that were still period accurate. Have you seen how everyone dresses, awful toney
for a mining camp. But still the specter of Kevin Costner loomed over the production. During prep
costume designer Joseph Porro had discovered that Costner's Wyatt Earp film had already snapped
up most of the appropriate western wardrobe in Hollywood and Walter Hill's Geronimo an American
Legend had basically claimed the rest. Scrambling to meet Jarre's high expectations, Porro connected
with Caravan West Productions, a group of old west enthusiasts and consultants who had outfits so
authentic that their wardrobe could serve as models for Porro to fabricate costumes. Caravan
West founder Peter Sherayko even appears in the movie as Texas Jack Vermillion, and his buckaroos
acted as extras using all their own gear. While Kevin Jarre was a talented screenwriter
with a script that was universally praised, it was immediately apparent to the cast and crew
that his skills did not translate to directing. Jarre's unwavering commitment to his vision led
to a rigid posture of my way or the highway, which unfortunately meant that he wasn't particularly
interested in collaborating with his cast his department heads or his producers. The continued
rejection of input from his actors and his cinematographer was souring the atmosphere on the
set. Although influenced by the work of John Ford, Jarre's visual style left something to be desired.
He was taking an old-fashioned approach with his camera, shooting scenes with a leisurely pace
and from a considerable distance. The lack of close-ups and alternate footage for editing led to
concerns with an already apprehensive money man. The general feeling was that Jarre wasn't
effectively capturing his script's energy or providing the footage that would be
necessary for a commercial modern film. It became increasingly clear that the first time
director wasn't adjusting his stance or listening to advice. He even rejected assistance from
filmmaker John Milius, his friend and mentor. After four weeks of shooting, Kevin Jarre
was unceremoniously dismissed from Tombstone. But the studio wasn't budging from their
planned Christmas release date. Die Hard director John Mctiernan was also considered
but wanted a two-week shutdown to prepare. With only a couple of days notice, director
George P Cosmatos was brought in to take over the production. Cosmatos was considered a shooter who
had previously worked on Rambo First Blood Part 2 and Cobra. His explicit instructions were to
complete Tombstone on schedule. Working with Kilmer and producer Jim Jacks, Russell slashed
pages from the script to meet the deadline. While he reduced his own presence, many additional
nuance moments with the Cowboys also disappeared. Gone was an entire early sequence where
Billy Clanton steals Wyatt Earp's horse, which unexpectedly leads to Wyatt entering
a truce with Curly Bill and the Cowboys. Also among the casualties was a scene that
Jarre had filmed himself where Johnny Ringo confronts Charlton Heston's rancher while
he's protecting the ailing Doc Holliday. Other scenes that ended up on the cutting room
floor included additional moments between Wyatt and Maddie and Doc Holliday and Kate along
with the fate of Michael Rooker's character. The cast who had gravitated to Jarre's original
masterwork weren't entirely pleased with the aggressive rewrites and the movie's newly centered
focus on the relationship between Wyatt and Doc. Sam Elliott felt that the edits removed vital
connective tissue and character development and said that if he had initially been presented
with that final version of the script he would have passed on it. On set the replacement
director's behavior was allegedly crass, abusive and volatile. Crew members left in droves or
were fired outright by Cosmatos. Oscar-nominated cinematographer William Fraker, who had worked
on everything from Rosemary's Baby to Wargames, clashed constantly with his new director,
even quitting the production on three separate occasions before eventually completing the
film. One heated altercation between Fraker and Cosmatos reportedly involved them plowing
their golf carts into each other. The actors didn't seem to be big fans either. Michael Biehn
recently claimed that his only interactions with Cosmatos were an initial hello and later told
him to [ __ ] off. In his memoir, unsurprisingly titled I'm Your Huckleberry, Val Kilmer bluntly
describes the overall situation as an unholy mess. But despite Cosmatos' uncivil personality and
approach he did get the movie finished. Kurt Russell, who had championed the project from
the start, would act as a unifying force for the actors through the remainder of the shoot,
earning their trust at the expense of his own screen time. After 88 days of shooting and a
couple extra million dollars on the budget, principal photography on Tombstone wrapped at
the end of August 1993. It would be many years after the movie's release that Russell revealed
the extent of his efforts to complete Tombstone. In a 2006 interview with True West magazine he
admitted that he had unofficially taken control of the movie, dictating each day's shot list to
Cosmatos and secretly steering the director during filming. As Russell puts it, George and I had sign
language going on. Cosmados had been suggested to the actor by his Tango and Cash co-star Sylvester
Stallone, who apparently had a similar arrangement with the director on First Blood Part 2 and
Cobra. Thanks to their talent and experience, the on-screen cast actually needed little
direction from Cosmatos and were driven by their belief in the project and the leadership of
Russell. And the actor was stretching himself thin wearing numerous hats besides the flat brimmed
stetson of Wyatt, sleeping an average of four hours each night. Russell says that getting the
movie finished was the hardest work of his life. Most of what Kevin Jarre filmed in his four
weeks did not make the final cut. For Jarre, Tombstone wouldn't be his first major Hollywood
disappointment or his last. Before losing his grip on Wyatt Earp, Jarre's Dracula project got a
stake through its heart when Francis Ford Coppola announced his own version of the mythical vampire
in the early 90s. Then his script for the 1997 crime thriller The Devil's Own was essentially
obliterated during a troubled production. Jarre's final screen credit appears on the Stephen
Sommers 1999 horror adventure The Mummy. He passed away in 2011. Although altered in style and
truncated in scope from his original vision, Kevin Jarre's love letter to the old west did ultimately
make it to screens, opening against popular movies like Mrs. Doubtfire and The Pelican Brief. The
R-rated Tombstone was met with decent reviews and box office over the holidays, eventually riding
into the sunset with 56 million dollars before becoming a favorite on home video. As for Kevin
Costner's ostensible competitor, Wyatt Earp opened the following summer in June of 1994 with a PG-13
rating, a runtime an hour longer than Tombstone and a cost of 63 million dollars. It was left in
the dust with 25 million at the box office. Well Bye. While Kurt Russell had clearly
won the showdown of dueling Earps, neither actors seemed to hold a grudge, appearing
together a few years later in the 2001 crime movie 3000 Miles to Graceland. Even with all its
problems and conflicts behind the scenes, the popularity of Tombstone has only
grown in the years since its release, a testament to the enduring appeal of its
fantastic cast and memorable scenes. Hell's coming with me! Accounts of the chaotic production
may vary but most agree that the movie's star deserves plenty of credit. As Val Kilmer stated
on a 2017 blog post, I'll be clear. Kurt is solely responsible for Tombstone's success, no
question. Kurt Russell, we tip our hat to you.
