A Cormac McCarthy Western Flop Makes Taylor Sheridan Furious For A Good Reason

Taylor Sheridan doesn't like being told what to do. In the past, he's flat out rejected the idea of working with other writers on his projects, instead choosing to pen all of his scripts by himself, far away from the bright lights of Hollywood. Be that as it may, there have been moments where he's had to sacrifice his creative vision due to meddling studio executives — an experience Sheridan's "Landman" star, Billy Bob Thornton, understands all too well.

In 2000, Thornton directed an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" for Miramax, only to butt heads with Harvey Weinstein, the now-disgraced former film producer who co-founded the studio. The movie — which follows two cowboys who get into trouble with the law during an employment-seeking journey to Mexico — was originally envisioned as an epic with a 160 minute runtime, but Weinstein trimmed it down to a little under two hours, which Thornton didn't appreciate. The producer's attempt to make the film more audience-friendly didn't work, either, as "All the Pretty Horses" received negative reviews and flopped.

Despite not being involved with making "All the Pretty Horses," Sheridan — who is a big fan of Cormac McCarthy and Thornton — is angry about the studio botching the movie, as it represents everything he hates about the relationship between artists and the industry. With that in mind, let's find out why he was so irked about Thornton's project being crushed by Weinstein.

Taylor Sheridan's "Wind River" was a collaboration between him and The Weinstein Company, so he knows what it's like to work with the company's former figurehead. As such, some of his grievances with how "All the Pretty Horses" was handled probably stem from his own personal disagreements with Harvey Weinstein. That said, Sheridan believes "All the Pretty Horses" could have been a great movie if it was released as the epic it was intended to be, and he hates the fact that Billy Bob Thornton lost the right to put out his director's cut. As Sheridan told Deadline:

"For anyone to dedicate that amount of time and energy and passion, time away from family and all the things that directing a film requires, and then not be in control of the finished product, I think that that's the resistance. We've all seen filmmakers who have made some brilliant films and then get in the studio machine and the brilliant, we expect brilliant, and we get mediocre. That's the machine because the machine is designed to make mediocre, because mediocre is safe and familiar."

What's more, Sheridan believes that Thornton's "Sling Blade" is a perfect film and that he had more than proven himself as a great director by the time "All the Pretty Horses" rolled around. He deserved the chance to make the Western his way, with that vision being shown on the screen in its purist form. The original book is also one of Cormac McCarthy's best novels, and it's a shame that it didn't receive the cinematic epic it deserves.