Walter Hill, the director of 48 Hrs and The Warriors, will be presented with the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award this year at the Venice International Film Festival. However, the 80-year-old director is also premiering a new picture. Dead for a Dollar is a tale about an old West bounty hunter (where have we seen that one before?) who confronts an unknown foe in the midst of an important mission.
Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Benjamin Bratt, Guy Burnet, Brandon Scott, and Scott Peat star in Dead for a Dollar. Walter Hill directed the film, which he co-wrote with Matt Harris.
Max Borlund, a veteran bounty hunter, travels to Mexico where he meets professional gambler and outlaw Joe Cribbens a sworn enemy he was sent to prison for years before. As the story is told to Max, she is forced to fight back to save his honor.
Hill stated in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he was drawn to the project because of his love for western films. He has directed The Long Riders, Wild Bill, Geronimo: An American Legend, and Last Man Standing.
Hill said that when I was a kid, my brother and I used to go to the movies every weekend. I loved musicals and comedy and everything else. But westerns were always my favorites. Ive always admired their elegant simplicity. Im interested in people who live in primal situations and who must deal with complicated problems on their own terms, without recourse to the government or a higher authority.
Dead for a Dollar will have its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on Tuesday, September 6, followed by a theatrical and digital release on Friday, September 30.