A Robert Redford And Paul Newman Classic Is Getting Rebooted
One of the great Paul Newman and Robert Redford classics is getting remade.
This article is more than 2 years old
Hollywood legends Paul Newman and Robert Redford have been a part of some of the most culturally and historically significant pictures of all time. Perhaps one of the most significant films that they acted alongside each other in, is the iconic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The classic movie has received a multitude of accolades over the years, including having an important spot within the United States National Film Registry and is even listed by the American Film Institute as the seventh greatest western of all time. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the Paul Newman classic could be getting a revival as a television show.
The possibility of the Paul Newman and Robert Redford western revival came to be after Stone Village Television acquired the rights to the book Butch Cassidy: The True Story of an American Outlaw authored by Charles Leerhsen. The book is a biography of the actual Butch Cassidy whom the original western is loosely based on. Owners, Scott Steindorff and Dylan Russell, of Stone Village television, detailed that they think bringing back the western as a TV show will give them the opportunity to tell more of Butch’s story, particularly the parts that took place throughout Central and South America.
However, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a heavily revered classic, and sometimes trying to redo something that is so culturally profound can come with a heavy price. Yet, other times it could serve to bring a beloved franchise into the modern age and reach a whole new generation of viewers. For instance, when Daniel Craig replaced Pierce Bronson as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006), the unlikely Bond came to be, arguably, one of the best and most loved actors to ever portray the suave spy. In fact, Ace Show Biz pointed out that the author of the aforementioned book, Charles Leerhsen, believes that Stone Village Television is uniquely suited to tackle the resurrection of the beloved western because of the personal relationship and longtime friendship that Scott Steindorff had with Paul Newman, and because of just how familiar he is with all the intricacies and nuances of Butch Cassidy’s story.
Paul Newman will forever be immortalized for portraying the revered gunslinger Butch Cassidy. However, the actor’s extensive and noteworthy career was rounded out by a plethora of box office hits that have gone down in history as highly coveted classics, like Cool Hand Luke (1967), for one. Or, perhaps more notably, Paul Newman’s reprisal of the flirtatious hustler, Eddie Felson in The Color of Money (1986), which was directed by the renowned Martin Scorcese. His performance in The Color of Money is what ultimately afforded him his first and well-deserved Oscar.
Paul Newman’s legacy continues to live on not only through his movies but also through his philanthropic endeavors that perpetuate under the guidance of his estate. He was both a founder of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, as well as the Newman’s Own Foundation. In the year of his death, his foundation contributed over $20 million dollars to a variety of charities, charities that the organization still continues to give to through the profits generated by sales from Newman’s Own products.
