Movies - TV
Sam Elliot Wasn't Exactly Satisfied With The Final Script For Tombstone
By DREW TINNIN
When the original writer-director, Kevin Jarre, was replaced by George Cosmatos during the precarious production of “Tombstone,” the original script was trimmed down to focus more on the relationship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Sam Elliott's character, Virgil Earp, was then sidelined after previously being a prominent character and that didn't sit well with Elliott.
Elliot told Entertainment Weekly he would've passed on “Tombstone” if he knew what the final shooting script would ultimately become. He explained, “Initially, the screenplay was one of the best I've ever read. If I was given the screenplay as it is now, I'd have to pass on it. They took 29 pages out of it, eliminated the connective tissue, took the character development out.”
Elliott and some of the other “Tombstone” actors surreptitiously reinserted some of their favorite bits of dialogue. Following in the footsteps of Lawrence Kasdan's raucous shoot-'em-up “Silverado,” the non-stop one-liners, high melodrama, and magnificent mustachery of “Tombstone” turned a volatile production into an undeniable crowd-pleaser.