Taglines: The epic story of love and adventure in a lawless land.
Wyatt Earp movie storyline. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, this epic version of the legendary western sheriff-gunslinger’s life story stars Kevin Costner as Earp, who lived from 1848 to 1929. Growing up on a farm in Iowa, Earp tries to run away to join the Union Army in the Civil War, but he is turned away because of his youth.
Instead, he studies law and marries Urilla Sutherland (Annabeth Gish). But Urilla dies of typhoid fever before they can have children. Earp grows despondent and descends into drinking and petty thievery, but his father Nicholas (Gene Hackman) finds him, sobers him up, and sets him straight. Earp becomes a buffalo hunter
Wyatt Earp is a 1994 American semi-biographical Western film directed by Lawrence Kasdan and co-written by Kasdan and Dan Gordon.[4] It stars Kevin Costner in the title role as lawman Wyatt Earp, and features an ensemble cast that includes Gene Hackman, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Bill Pullman, Dennis Quaid, Isabella Rossellini, Tom Sizemore, JoBeth Williams, and Mare Winningham.
Wyatt Earp, released six months after Tombstone, was the less successful of the two films, taking in $25 million on a $63 million budget, compared to Tombstone’s $56 million domestic gross on a $25 million budget. The film did debut at No. 4 at the box office, however.
Costner was originally involved with the film Tombstone, another film about Wyatt Earp, written by Kevin Jarre of Glory fame. However, Costner disagreed with Jarre over the focus of the film (he believed that the emphasis should have been on Wyatt Earp rather than the many characters in Jarre’s script) and left the project, eventually teaming up with Kasdan to produce his own Wyatt Earp project.
The film was also originally meant to be a six-hour miniseries until Kevin Costner joined the cast. Costner then used his then-considerable clout to convince most of the major studios to refuse to distribute the competing film, which affected casting on the rival project.
The score was composed by James Newton Howard, conducted by Marty Paich with The Hollywood Recording Musicians Orchestra and released by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. It was later re-released in 2013 by La-La Land.
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Jeff Fahey, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Pullman, Isabella Rossellini, Tom Sizemore, JoBeth Williams, Mare Winningham
Screenplay by: Dan Gordon, Lawrence Kasdan
Production Design by: Ida Random
Cinematography by: Owen Roizman
Film Editing by: Carol Littleton
Costume Design by: Colleen Atwood
Set Decoration by: Cheryl Carasik
Art Direction by: Gary Wissner
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong gunfights, some language and sensuality.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 24, 1994
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