'The Highwaymen' Trailer: Costner And Harrelson Chase Down Bonnie And Clyde

Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson have both been acting in Hollywood for almost forty years, but so far, they only have one credit in common: a 1990 TV event called The Earth Day Special – and they don't even share the screen together. (Side note: scroll through that special if you have the time...there's a lot going on in it.)

But now the veteran actors are suiting up to take down legendary criminals Bonnie and Clyde in The Highwaymen, a new Netflix movie that arrives on the streaming service next month. Check out the trailer below.

The Highwaymen is written by John Fusco (Young Guns, Hidalgo, Marco Polo) and directed by John Lee Hancock, who's known for directing safe, middle-of-the-road adaptations of true stories like The Rookie, The Alamo, The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Founder. That's not a complete diss, by the way: some of those movies are good! But as you can see, it's something of a mixed track record.

Here's an interesting wrinkle, though: unlike most Netflix trailers, this one comes with an "R" rating warning at the very end, which seems to indicate that Hancock isn't interested in playing to the broadest possible audience this time around. Will this film be anything more than scenes of Costner and Harrelson's characters being constantly undervalued, only to inevitably prove that their "old dog" instincts are still valid in a modern world?

I suppose even if that's as deep as things get, the supporting cast may make this worth a watch: Kathy Bates (Misery, Titanic), Kim Dickens (Deadwood, Gone Girl), and John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, Zodiac) all stop by. With a cast like that and a propulsive premise, this movie can't be too much of a snooze...can it? Here's hoping this turns out to be one of Hancock's most memorable directing efforts.

Here's the official synopsis:

From director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), THE HIGHWAYMEN follows the untold true story of the legendary lawmen who brought down Bonnie and Clyde. When the full force of the FBI and the latest forensic technology aren't enough to capture the nation's most notorious criminals, two former Texas Rangers (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson) must rely on their gut instincts and old school skills to get the job done.

The Highwaymen debuts at this year's SXSW Film Festival, comes to select theaters on March 15, and hits Netflix on March 29, 2019.