Replicating the magic of great movies is indeed a mammoth task, let alone doing so after replacing Hollywood’s legendary Western hero. With ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales‘ (1976) Clint Eastwood gave us one of the most memorable masterpieces. But when the sequel arrived a decade later, the actor who had made Josey Wales a Western icon was missing.
Born out of legal complications and unrealized ambitions, ‘The Return of Josey Wales‘ (1986) sought to reimagine the legendary saga through a fresh directorial vision. But what followed was a theatrical experiment that couldn’t work its magic, showing that some cowboy boots are just impossible to fill. Now, the film stands as one of the most unusual projects in the history of Western cinema.
Clint Eastwood’s Comeback Plan Did Not Materialize
At the time when ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ hit the screens, it immediately became one of the most popular Westerns of Eastwood’s career. Based on Forrest Carter’s book of the same name, it tells the story of a Missouri farmer who becomes an outlaw after his family members lose their lives during the Civil War.
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Given the film’s success, it seemed plausible for Eastwood, who served as the director, to continue the adventures of the main character at some point. Interestingly, he really did that. Eastwood planned to adapt another book written by Carter, called ‘The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales.’
It originally intended to continue the story of Josey Wales several years after the events described in the 1976 movie. The project was developed to such an extent that Eastwood thought about taking double roles as actor and director.
However, the production became mired in a dispute over the adaptation rights, prompting Eastwood to ultimately abandon the sequel. As a result, the sequel never came to fruition. Despite this failure, the idea of continuing the story of Josey Wales did not go away.
Josey Wales Returned To The Screens
A decade after the Eastwood’s movie movie, ‘The Return of Josey Wales’ came out in 1986. The movie used the same source material as Eastwood intended to use, though Michael Parks played the lead role while also serving as the movie’s director.
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The sequel finds Josey Wales living peacefully with his family until a wave of violence claims the lives of those close to him. Forced back into action, the legendary outlaw journeys into Mexico in pursuit of justice against the men responsible.
Although the sequel finally came into being, it emerged without Eastwood who made the character immortal. This was too difficult to accept for many Western fans, which is why ‘The Return of Josey Wales’ became one of the least popular sequels to a Clint Eastwood movie.
Today, it remains a little-known curiosity in the Western genre that dared to replace Clint Eastwood but failed miserably both critcally an financially.
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