Jim Sheridan is coming off a pretty ugly rough patch. The Oscar nominee has been stumbling ever since "In America," inexplicably helming the 50 Cent movie "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'," having his underrated remake of "Brothers" undeservedly ignored and then flopping hard with last year's horror effort "Dream House." So it seems to get that creative mojo flowing again, he's going back to one of his earliest projects.
Screen Daily reports that Sheridan is set to write and direct a "reimagining" of Mike Newell's 1992 film "Into The West." Sheridan was actually one of the writers on that film, a fantasy picture starring Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin, that centered on two poor, young Irish boys who set off to find the mystical horse given to them by their grandfather when it is stolen. We never saw this film, but it picked up a few international festival awards at the time. It's not clear what elements Sheridan exactly will be reimagining, but the story will now be set in the U.S. So is this just a remake then?
Whatever it is, it seems folks are excited. Miramax has already snapped up U.S. distribution and the project just received an Irish Film Board grant, so the wheels are in motion. Here's hoping Sheridan can get out of his funk.