'Cowboys & Aliens' Aims For The Stars In Cowboys & Indians Magazine

Online, June 7, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Wild West will get a little wilder this summer when Cowboys & Aliens appears at theaters and drive-ins everywhere. But you don't have to wait until the July 29 opening date to get the inside story on this eagerly awaited sci-fi adventure film. Cowboys & Indians, The Premiere Magazine of the West, offers an up-close and behind-the-scenes preview - along with exclusive interviews - in the July issue, on sale June 8 at fine newsstands everywhere.

Set in the New Mexico Territory of 1875, Cowboys & Aliens stars Daniel Craig - in a dramatic departure from his James Bond role - as a mysterious gunslinger who drifts into the desert town of Absolution just in time to witness an invasion by marauding extraterrestrials. Harrison Ford plays Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde, a grizzled tyrant who rules Absolution with a whim of iron - but who needs the gunslinger's help in warding off the attack by unfriendly aliens.

Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) tells C&I writer Joe Leydon that Cowboys & Aliens actually is the fulfillment of his long-cherished dream. "I think most directors, deep down, have the desire to make a western," Favreau says. "It's a classic American cinematic form. And our stories somehow become bigger and more timeless when set in the mythic West."

Still, Favreau found it easier to get a western greenlit for production with a few extraterrestrials tossed into the mix. "The alien side of it is what really made it possible," he says. "Because even though, up until recently, the western has been viewed as box office poison by Hollywood, the alien invasion movie has been seen as a very lucrative international genre. So by taking these two genres and putting them together, it allowed us to make a very traditional western with this sci-fi element to it."

Elsewhere in the July issue of Cowboys & Indians, legendary stunt coordinator Terry Leonard - whose credits range from Rio Lobo and The Shootist to Tombstone and Blazing Saddles - talks with writer John Zinskey about working on Cowboys & Aliens with his good friend Ford decades after their memorable collaboration on Raiders of the Lost Ark. "We had some good laughs on this movie, that's for sure," Leonard says. "But when the camera started rolling and it involved stunts, I had to dial him back because he'll go through a wall at 90 mph and then want to do it again. He's a rare breed of actor-athlete that still wants to do it all."

Costar Walton Goggins (of TV's Justified) freely admits he found it slightly intimidating to work alongside Ford and Craig. Indeed, on his first day of filming, he felt a bit nervous - which may explain why, during the first take, he fell off his horse. "And my foot is still in the stirrup," Goggins recalls. "And I'm flat on my back, while everybody started laughing. And I'm thinking, Okay, just give me a second. That's Han Solo, and that's James Bond. Could everybody just give me a break here? Could I get just one more take so I can get my feet underneath me here, guys?"

Published eight times per year, Cowboys & Indians is an international magazine of the highest quality covering the past, present, and future of the American West. Printed copies are available at fine newsstands everywhere, and an electronic edition is available through Zinio.com. For further information, contact Cowboys & Indians at 214-750-8222 or visit www.cowboysindians.com.