Last year, Joel and Ethan Coen announced that they'd be releasing an anthology Western series on Netflix called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The series, which would be written and directed by the Coens, would feature six stories about the American West, starring Tim Blake Nelson as Buster.
But now, in a surprise move, they've announced that this has become a feature length film that will premiere at the Venice Film Festival just in time for Oscar season.
“We’ve always loved anthology movies, especially those films made in Italy in the Sixties which set side-by-side the work of different directors on a common theme,” the Coens said in a statement. “Having written an anthology of Western stories we attempted to do the same, hoping to enlist the best directors working today. It was our great fortune that they both agreed to participate.”
As a film, it will maintain a chaptered anthology structure, and also star Zoe Kazan, Liam Neeson, and Tom Waits. The plot still remains a mystery, though, with the summary simply reading, "saddle up for six tales about the American frontier."
"The film is expected to hit Netflix’s streaming service by year’s end along with the requisite theatrical release to qualify for Oscar consideration," Variety reports. "Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Inside Llewyn Davis, Darkest Hour) shot the film with the Arri Alexa camera, making Buster Scruggs the Coens’ first-ever digital photography production. The Coens tapped their usual artisan department heads on the picture, including production designer Jess Gonchor, costume designer Mary Zophres and composer Carter Burwell, all former Academy Award nominees."
The 75th annual Venice Film Festival runs 29 Aug – 8 Sept.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
