Warners continues to mine popular studio properties for possible origin stories including a rumoured prequel to director Sam Peckinpah's 1969 feature "The Wild Bunch", featuring the early robbing, whoring gang years of western outlaws 'Pike Bishop', 'Deke Thornton' and 'Freddie Sykes', when they "did their fair share of killing and more..." in the Old West.
Premise of the original film, set in 1913, during the height of the Mexican Revolution, placed the aging gang of "unchanged men in a changing land", in 'San Rafael', Texas for a planned bank robbery, led by 'Pike Bishop' (William Holden), with 'Dutch Engstrom' (Ernest Borgnine), 'Lyle Gorch' (Warren Oates), 'Tector Gorch' (Ben Johnson), 'Angel' (Jaime Sanchez), 'Buck' (Rayford Barnes) and 'Crazy Lee' (Luke Hopkins), dressed as US Cavalry, while a gaggle of bounty hunters led by railroad detective 'Patrick Harrigan' (Albert Dekker), former Bishop gang member 'Deke Thornton' (Robert Ryan), 'Coffer' (Strother Martin), 'T.C.' (LQ Jones), 'Huey' (Paul Harper) and 'Jess' (Bill Hart), waited to pounce.
After numerous escapes, robberies and killings, the gang winds up in 'Agua Verde' Mexico, after selling guns to 'General Mapache', now determined to rescue Angel who has been taken hostage.
After a bloody massacre, killing Mapache, his soldiers, Pike, Dutch and the Gorches...
...Thornton and his men ride into town, looting the bodies of the Mexican soldiers.
Thornton declines to join the bounty hunters as they return to the US, remaining at Agua Verde, when Sykes, Mexican villager 'Don Jose' and a group of 'Villistas' later arrive at the town and confront him.
"Well, me and the boys here, we got some work to do," says Sykes.
"
Want to come along ? Ain't like it used to be, but it'll do..."
With a grin, Thornton agrees to join up with the new gang for another go at the outlaw lifestyle.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Wild Bunch"...
