Blackthorn will see Butch carrying on incognito after Sundance's death, breeding horses and living with a native Bolivian woman before a young mine-robber inspires him to take on one last adventure that could provide means for a return to the States. There is no word of how Butch managed survival to experience these events, but historians hold a variety of theories as to his actual fate so there are plenty of routes to consider.
Most any film fanatic will have a number of red flags popping up at this news. Primarily, the mere existence of a sequel negates the original's incredible finale the same way Before Sunset's presence on this earth strips some of the mystique from Before Sunrise. On top of that, Paul Newman is sadly deceased, rendering his return to the iconic role an impossibility (Western veteran Sam Shepard will put a face to Butch in Newman's stead). This is doomed to be a bastardization, right?
Here's what gives me a boatload of hope (aside from the facts that Before Sunset was actually damn good and that "Blackthorn" is a badass title). Mateo Gil, writer of Alejandro Amenabar's astonishing films Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes, the original version of Vanilla Sky) and Oscar-winner Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside), is not only writing but assuming the director's helm. If his previous work has proven anything, it's that he knows better than most how to tell a story about what truly drives us as human beings.
The Independent:
[Gil] has described the rebooted Cassidy as "that tired and lonely old man who, for an instant, recovers all his energy and dreams due to someone who seems to reincarnate the past, his old friends and ideals".
The film will be shot on location in Bolivia and is pitched as an old-fashioned Western. "One of the things that I like most about Westerns is that it's a truly moral genre," added Gil, in a statement on the website of the production company, Arcadia. "The characters face life and death, and other very important matters (freedom, commitment and loyalty, courage, treachery, ownership and money, justice, friendship and even love) in very pure and simple terms. It's a genre that helps us look at our own life and find a way to face it."
Blackthorn will also star Eduardo Noriega. There is no word yet regarding a shooting schedule or release date.