Russell "Ghosted" Tombstone

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Everyone loves or at least greatly respects Tombstone, the 1993 cult western with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton and Sam Elliott. And many of the more ardent fans have probably watched the Disney Home Video Director's Cut DVD, which came out in January '02. Now it turns out there's an ironic element contained on that nearly five-year-old disc -- ironic bordering on comedic, I'd say -- by way of the commentary track by director George V. Cosmatos, who died in April 2005.

The Cosmatos rap will seem like a mild hoot to anyone reading this recent piece by Henry Cabot Beck in the October edition of True West magazine. That's because it reveals/contends/proposes that the guy who ghost-directed Tombstone, who deserves the lion's share of the credit for this much-loved western, and who certainly should have recorded the DVD commentary nearly five years ago is none other than Kurt Russell.

Cosmatos, no offense, was never anything but an amiable hack -- a guy who did the shots, got the lighting right, etc. This is more or less acknowledged in the article by Russell, who swore to Cosmatos he would never tell the truth about their deal behind the making of Tombstone while he was alive.

Boiled down, Russell tells Beck that (a) it was he, Russell, who went out and raised the production dough through biking pal Andy Vajna, (b) that after Tombstone's original director Kevin Jarre was canned Russell decided to "ghost" direct Tombstone by hiring Cosmatos to shoot it like he was told to and nothing beyond that.

It also explains (c) how Kevin Costner, who was working with Larry Kasdan on Wyatt Earp at the time, pulled strings all over town to keep Tombstone from getting a distribution deal with anyone with Disney, (d) how Vajna wanted Richard Gere to play moustachioed lawman Wyatt Earp and (e) how Jarre wanted Willem Dafoe to play Doc Holliday but was forced to accept Val Kilmer in the role -- which turned out to be a good thing because Kilmer was exceptional.

Beck got the goods from Russell while speaking with him at a Beverly Hills Poseidon junket four or five months ago.

"I mentioned to him that I write for True West and suggested we talk about Tombstone sometime," Beck relates, "and then Russell went straight into it, pulling the lid off the can of worms and giving me an extra 20 interview minutes of unheard skinny -- how he put the project together, how he ghost-directed the picture, Costner's involvement, Jarre's firing, casting issues...really loaded with good material.

Beck thereafter sent two messages to Russell through CAA agent Rick Nicita "thanking [Russell], letting him know I intended using the stuff, and requesting follow-ups, but when I heard nothing back I ran with what I had, especially since none of it was off the record and because the 125th anniversary of the Gunfight at The OK Corral is coming at the end of October and all the scholars and academics and buffs are converging in Tombstone and this was hot poop.

"When CAA finally noticed I was running a story, they called Russell, literally one week before the True West issue hit the stands (8.28 or 8.29) and the next thing I knew I had Russell calling me from the set of Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" short (which is part of Grind House) in Austin. He wasn't all that happy, although he did admit he would have likely done the same thing in my shoes. I had some copies sent and called his hotel but I've heard nothing -- I'm guessing he's steamed for several reasons.

"There are two stories here -- the story of Tombstone, and the story of the story. Things I think are most fun are Russell admitting he directed the picture but promising he'd keep mum for Cosmatos, Costner's hardball, and the Gere/Dafoe casting business.

"Pity, really, that Russell was kept in the dark and then got pissed, because I really wanted to follow up, and I still think there's a book here."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 17, 2006 at 12:00 PM

comment #1

Sergio says ...

Yeah, it figures. I'm a HUGE fan of Tombstone and I have that director's cut DVD of it and I never could figure out how a lousy hack like Cosmatos could have directed such a good film. I knew something was up since Cosmatos' career basically just died after Tombstone insead of boosting his career and making him a hot commodity

Posted by Sergio at September 17, 2006 2:30 PM

comment #2

Griff says ...

Good script, good cast. Interesting that Russell hasn't directed anything else, since it turned out so well.

Posted by Griff at September 17, 2006 2:38 PM

comment #3

breadlymoore says ...

"Almost Casted"???

Posted by breadlymoore at September 17, 2006 3:24 PM

comment #4

gh says ...

So because Russell is a frustrated director and tries to aggrandize himself to the writer of some western magazine, it's automatically the truth?

Posted by gh at September 17, 2006 3:36 PM

comment #5

Dixon Steele says ...

In my former life as a development exec., my company had a perfectly good action/buddy comedy that needed a polish.

My boss was buddies with Cosmatos and thought he would be right to direct.

So the screenwriter and I met with George and listened to his "notes" for an hour and, honestly, they were so godawful that the writer and I couldn't believe it.

My boss made us make the changes and of course the script, and the project, went into the crapper.

Later, an attorney friend confirmed that GC was notriously bad on story, but was the guy you called in to shoot the picture once you had a finished script.

Sorry to speak ill of the dead, but there you have it. RIP, George.

Posted by Dixon Steele at September 17, 2006 3:44 PM

comment #6

Josh Massey says ...

Obviously there weren't many hard feelings, as Costner and Russell starred in "3000 Miles to Graceland" together.

Posted by Josh Massey at September 17, 2006 4:03 PM

comment #7

Dixon Steele says ...

The only hard feelings were with the audience that sat through that worthless piece of crap.

Posted by Dixon Steele at September 17, 2006 4:24 PM

comment #8

thatrader says ...

That's an awesome article. Thanks Jeff.

Posted by thatrader at September 17, 2006 7:53 PM

comment #9

ZacharyTF says ...

I remember seeing Wyatt Earp and being let down by it. When I got around to seeing Tombstone, I approached it with a sense of trepidation. To my utter disbelief, it turned out to be a great Western. Not a masterpiece like Unforgiven, but a excellent movie.

Val Kilmer was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

I remember Ebert and Roeper discussing how most movies that aren't screened for critics are trash, but that Tombstone was a noteworth exception. It was dumped into theaters and had to earn its reputation through home video and DVD.

This movie has been double-dipped once, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was re-released on DVD again in 2008 for it's 15th anniversary.

Posted by ZacharyTF at September 17, 2006 7:54 PM

comment #10

ZacharyTF says ...

Thanks for the PDF of the article, Jeff! Great read.

Posted by ZacharyTF at September 17, 2006 7:55 PM

comment #11

breadlymoore says ...

"but that Tombstone was a noteworth exception. It was dumped into theaters and had to earn its reputation through home video and DVD."

Uh oh, it's the OFFICE SPACE selective memory situation again.

Trust me, there's a difference between "dumped" and "released with no expectations."

TOMBSTONE was surely the latter. It had plenty of advertising and a swell release date. Disney just didn't expect anything from it, so they didn't bend over backwards.

And for the record, I preferred WYATT EARP a whole bunch over TOMBSTONE. Kasdan turned the story into a sweeping epic with a beautiful lead performance from Costner.

TOMBSTONE was a bunch of B-list actors running around playin' cowboys and indians...poorly.

Posted by breadlymoore at September 17, 2006 9:33 PM

comment #12

Josh Massey says ...

"Tombstone" was released on over 1,900 screens and grossed just short of $57 million. Hardly a "dump" or just a home video success.

Posted by Josh Massey at September 17, 2006 9:48 PM

comment #13

Dixon Steele says ...

TOMBSTONE has its' fans, but it's hardly a classic. The best thing about it is obviously Kilmer's memorably campy turn as Doc Holliday.

But it's more enjoyable than Kasdan's film, which takes itself way too seriously and is much too long. Most memorable thing there was Dennis Quaid's emaciated look as Doc.

Posted by Dixon Steele at September 17, 2006 10:21 PM

comment #14

Josh Massey says ...

"Wyatt Earp" looked better, was better acted from top-to-bottom, and held itself better as a "film." However, "Tombstone" is clearly the better "movie," and the one I'll see again before I die. I wish Russell would do his "I was really the director's cut," though, and take out the painful romantic scenes with Dana Delany.

Posted by Josh Massey at September 18, 2006 7:00 AM

comment #15

le corbeau says ...

I don't find them very comparable. Wyatt Earp was like a more tasteful and restrained Heaven's Gate-- great look, good acting, pointlessly wandering screenplay, needless framing story, endless running time. Tombstone was like El Dorado: The Next Generation, a fun chance to play cowboy for a bunch of current stars. It's the one I would watch a half hour of on Sunday afternoon, if it happened to be on Starz.

Posted by le corbeau at September 18, 2006 8:40 AM

comment #16

ArchiveGuy says ...

There are only a few things good about "Tombstone"--Kilmer and his chemistry w/Russell, the OK Corral sequence, and that's really it. It's always struck me as a western that people love who don't know anything about westerns. Compared to anything by Mann or Boetticher or Hawks, it's an overlong, macho-posturing trifle, without even the tiniest bit of resonance, character, or inventiveness. It's "fun" only in the sense that individual moments may deliver, but the sum total is far less impressive--in the same league as "Silverado"

Posted by ArchiveGuy at September 18, 2006 9:39 AM

comment #17

RoyBatty says ...

Sorry, but I've always felt that Dennis Quaid turned in a much better performance as Doc Holliday than Kilmer. Be honest and think about what is supposedly the great parts of that role. What you end up with are all the great lines and the cock-of-the-walk strutting in the Kilmer turn. But with Quaid I felt like I was watching a realistic depiction of a larger-than-life historical figure. There was a real sense of a person who has lived before the story begins. Kilmer's Doc seems more like the screenwriter showing off.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of TOMBSTONE(which is certainly the more entertaining film) and will take Dana Delany over Jami Gertz seven days a week. Russell captured Earp in a more relatable way than Costner managed.

Posted by RoyBatty at September 18, 2006 11:02 AM

comment #18

Edward says ...

I have to pipe in and remind everyone of Victor Mature's outstanding turn as Doc Holliday in "My Darling Clementine."

Posted by Edward at September 18, 2006 1:57 PM

comment #19

Hallick says ...

Tombstone's greatness is 80 to 90% owed to Doc Holliday. Didn't Val Kilmer's performance do for that movie exactly what Johnny Depp's did for the first Pirates of the Carribean movie? You gotta love a western where one of the best showdowns isn't done with guns but by a Latin-off.

Posted by Hallick at September 18, 2006 9:32 PM

comment #20