High Noon, widely regarded as one of the top five Westerns in cinematic history has made it’s first step towards the remake treatment yesterday when the movie’s rights were picked up by producer Mark Headley, actor Christopher Mitchum (son of Robert, something of a dream project for him apparently) and businessman Toni Covington.

Fittingly, the trio have formed their own production company High Noon Prods. and are ambitiously moving ahead with an early 08 start date, with the hunt currently on for a director and lead star.

A budget of $20 million has been set and they will be hoping to find the same kind of audience that brought $58 million worldwide to 3:1o to Yuma earlier this year.

The original 1952 movie from director Fred Zinnemann starred Gary Cooper as a town Marshall who after the residents refuse to help him, is forced by himself to take on a gang ruthless for revenge after being put behind bars. It very much belongs to the same kind of pulp universe as Yuma, with it’s great dramatic tension, larger than life ‘morality challenged’ characters and it’s deeper psychological elements.

It’s simply one of those films. The classics whose remake rights should be locked up in a vault somewhere.

With a $20 million budget, getting the likes of Bale and Crowe to appear in the film is going to be impossible, and without two big stars it might struggle to make it’s money back.

I love this genre and I’m desperate for more Westerns put this really isn’t the way to go about it.