Time for a resounding chorus of ‘yippee ki-yay!’ (only without the rude ‘M’ word, if you please) – Roy Rogers, the legendary big-screen cowboy, is set for a glorious return to the big screen. Die Hard's John McClane, who’s always been partial to a bit of Rogers, will be pleased.
821 Entertainment has teamed up with the Roy Rogers Family Entertainment Corp. to announce plans for a – what else? – trilogy of new films concerning the adventures of the squeaky-clean cowboy, his partner (but not in a Brokeback Mountain kinda way) Dale Evans, and his trusty steed, Trigger.
Of course, Roy Rogers, the character, was played in 88 films (made during between 1938-51) by Roy Rogers, the actor, iconic star and veritable legend. Rogers passed away in 1998, at the age of 86, so obviously the new films will need a new Roy Rogers for what 821 Entertainment says will be a family adventure.
“Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger are quintessential figures of America,” 821 CEO Eric Geadelmann told Variety, “and we will introduce this franchise to a new audience while capitalizing on the millions of Roy Rogers fans worldwide.”
Millions of fans? Well, yes, apparently. More than 120 million Rogers comics have been sold worldwide, for example, but we’re guessing that they don’t shift so many these days. In fact, there are many good reasons to believe that Rogers may be a little too quaint and nicey-nice for this cold, cruel world.
On the other hand, maybe it’s time for a return to the good old days of the Western, when the good guys wore white hats, the bad guys wore black, and gun shots sounded like they had been fired in an echo chamber.
We’ll keep you posted on how The King Of Cowboys trilogy progresses.