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Tombstone
Directed by	George P. Cosmatos Kurt Russell (uncredited)[1]
Produced by	Sean Daniel James Jacks
Written by	Kevin Jarre
Starring	Kurt Russell Val Kilmer Sam Elliott Bill Paxton
Distributed by	Hollywood Pictures Cinergi Pictures
Release date(s)	December 25, 1993
Running time	130 min.
Language	English, Spanish, and Latin
Budget	$25,000,000
IMDb profile

Tombstone is a 1993 Western movie written by Kevin Jarre and directed by Kurt Russell, with credited director George P. Cosmatos ghost-directing.^[1] The film, which boasts an ensemble cast with 85 speaking roles, involves Wyatt Earp and his brothers moving to Tombstone, Arizona where they and Doc Holliday face off against a band of criminals called the Cowboys. The movie is loosely based on the 1957 classic, Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Response 4 Featured cast 5 Notes 6 External links

Wyatt Earp (played by Kurt Russell), a retired peace officer with quite a reputation, re-unites with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) in Tucson, Arizona, where they venture on towards Tombstone, a small but growing mining town, to settle down. There they encounter Wyatt's longtime friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), a southern rogue who seeks relief from his tuberculosis in Arizona's drier environment.

All is not perfect however. Wyatt's wife, Mattie Blaylock (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) , is slowly becoming dependent on laudanum (opium) which she acquired to treat her headaches. Just as Wyatt and his brothers begin to benefit from the rebuilding of a saloon's below-average prospects, they make their first meeting with the Cowboys, an organized crime ring headed by "Curly Bill" Brocious (Powers Boothe), the members of which wear red sashes around their waist to mark their affiliation. Conflict is narrowly avoided upon Wyatt's insistence that he is retired and no longer interested in pursuing a career in law-keeping. This also marks a less-than-ideal first meeting for Doc Holliday and his Cowboy counterpart, the psychopathic Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn), who hold a tense conversation in Latin hinting at their future rivalry.

Also just arriving in town are theatre performers Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) and her actor companion Mr. Fabian (Billy Zane).

Wyatt, although no longer a law-man, cannot betray his good qualities, and in a town inundated with Cowboys it isn't long before tensions rise. Shooting aimlessly in the middle of town after his visit to a Chinese opium house, an intoxicated Curly Bill is approached by town Marshal Fred White to relinquish his firearms before any harm is done. Instead, Curly Bill shoots Marshal White in an "accidentally-on-purpose" fashion and is subsequently knocked unconscious from behind by Wyatt. Tension mounts as Ike Clanton and other Cowboys, intent on rescuing Curly Bill, are turned away by Wyatt, his shotgun-toting brothers, and Doc. Curly Bill later stands trial but is found not guilty and released.

Wyatt also has encounters with Josephine, who unlike other ladies of her time is quite forward towards men. Although their actions are innocent there is a spark between them that neither can deny.

Later, Virgil, unable to tolerate the lawlessness of Tombstone, becomes the new town marshal (replacing Fred White) and imposes a weapons ban in town limits. Further dealings with the Cowboys prompts the legendary battle at the O.K. Corral. Virgil and Morgan are wounded, three Cowboys are killed, and county sheriff John Behan's allegiance to the Cowboys is revealed. As retribution for the Cowboy deaths Wyatt's brothers are shot from ambush: Morgan is killed, while Virgil's arm is maimed for life. Wyatt and family decide to leave Tombstone and head back to Tucson to board a train. Followed by the Cowboys, Wyatt sees that his family leaves safely, surprising the assassins--Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell--who had come to kill them. Wyatt announces that he has become a U.S. Marshal and that he intends to kill any man he sees wearing a red sash. He lets Clanton return to send the message and enters a vengeful stage in his life when he, Doc, an ex-Cowboy named Sherman McMasters (Michael Rooker) and his friends Texas Jack Vermillion and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson join forces to wipe out the Cowboys.

At another epic battle Wyatt is ambushed in a riverside forest by the Cowboys. Hopelessly surrounded, Wyatt strides unprotected into the river to seek out Curly Bill in single combat. Brocious obliges and a knee-deep water gunfight is over before it begins with Curly Bill lying in the water dead. Johnny Ringo becomes the head of the Cowboys.

At one of their lower points, Doc's health is worsening and they depend on the accommodations of Henry Hooker (Charlton Heston). It is learned that Mr. Fabian was shot by Cowboys who wanted to steal Josephine's watch. Due to his now distant relation (geographically and emotionally) with his wife, Wyatt reaches a point of understanding, realizing what he wants in life and whom (Josephine).

Ringo sends a message that he wants a showdown with Wyatt to end the hostilities and Wyatt is in agreement. Although Doc is a better match for Johnny he is currently in no condition for a gunfight and cannot join Wyatt.

Wyatt sets off for the showdown, not knowing that a healthy Doc beats him to the scene. Doc confronts a surprised Ringo and tells him "I'm your huckleberry". Ringo becomes nervous and tells Doc that he doesn't want to fight him, but Doc says they are just finishing their "game" from a previous encounter--"to play for blood". Ringo accepts and both men stare each other down as they circle around. As both men lift their guns, Doc gets the first shot off, hitting Ringo in the head and killing him. Wyatt runs when he hears the gunshot only to encounter his believed-ailing friend on his feet and well. They then press on to finish the job of eliminating the Cowboys, though Clanton escapes their vengeance by throwing away his red sash.

Doc is later admitted to a sanatorium in Glenwood Springs, Colorado where shortly after a visit from Wyatt he dies. Immediately prior to his death, Doc looks at his feet and the condition of the bed in which he is lying, and mutters "I'll be damned. Oh, this is funny", after which he dies. Doc realizes he was about to die with his boots off (as opposed to "dying with your boots on", i.e. in a gunfight). At Doc's urging, Wyatt pursues Josephine and the movie ends with an account of their long marriage together.

In 1989, Kurt Russell was given the script for Tombstone. At the time Kevin Jarre and Kevin Costner were going to make the movie together but disagreed over the film's focus. Costner felt that the emphasis should be on Wyatt Earp and decided to make his own movie with Lawrence Kasdan.^[1] Russell signed on and made an agreement with producer Andrew Vajna to finance it with a budget of $25 million.^[1]

Originally, Jarre and Russell wanted to cast Willem Dafoe as Doc Holliday but Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group refused to distribute the film if he was cast, due to Dafoe's role in the controversial The Last Temptation of Christ.^[1] Because Costner was making a competing Wyatt Earp film, he used his then-considerable clout to convince most of the major studios to refuse to distribute Tombstone - Buena Vista was thus the only studio willing to distribute.^[1] Jarre and Russell went with their next choice, Val Kilmer.

Filming was plagued with several problems. Both Russell and Kilmer have said that the screenplay was too long (Russell estimated by 20 pages).^[1] According to Kilmer, "virtually every main character, every cowboy, for example, had a subplot and a story told, and none of them are left in the film."^[1] He has said that over 100 people, cast and crew, either quit or were fired over the course of the production.^[1] Russell even went so far as to cut down his scenes in order to let other actors have more screen time.^[1] Early in the production, screenwriter Jarre was fired as director due to his refusal to cut down the length of his screenplay.^[1] Sylvester Stallone recommended George P. Cosmatos to Kurt Russell based on the work he did on Rambo: First Blood Part II. According to Russell, Cosmatos ghost directed the movie for Russell. Every night, Russell would give Cosmatos a shot list for the next day, and developed a "secret sign language" on set to exert influence.^[1]

Robert Mitchum was originally set to play Old Man Clanton, but suffered a horse riding accident which made him unable to play the part. Mitchum ultimately narrated the film, while the part was written out of the script. Much of Old Man Clanton's dialogue, however, was spoken by other characters, particularly Curly Bill, who was effectively made the gang leader in lieu of Clanton. Glenn Ford was also originally cast as Marshall White, while Harry Carey, Jr. was to play a Wagonmaster who helped Wyatt track down the Cowboys. Ford dropped out of the project and Carey was cast as White after the wagonmaster was written out of the script.

Tombstone is currently certified 79% "fresh" on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Val Kilmer was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards in 1994 for Best Male Performance and Most Desirable Male. Tombstone beat Costner and Kasdan's version, Wyatt Earp, to theaters by six months. Tombstone earned $56 million domestically on a $25 million budget,^[2] while Wyatt Earp made only $25 million on a $63 million budget.^[3]

Actor	Role
Kurt Russell	Wyatt Earp
Val Kilmer	Doc Holliday
Michael Biehn	Johnny Ringo
Powers Boothe	Curly Bill Brocius
Robert John Burke	Frank McLaury
Dana Delany	Josephine Marcus
Sam Elliott	Virgil Earp
Stephen Lang	Ike Clanton
Joanna Pacula	Kate
Bill Paxton	Morgan Earp
Jason Priestley	Billy Breckinridge
Michael Rooker	Sherman McMasters
Jon Tenney	Sheriff Johnny Behan
Billy Zane	Mr. Fabian
Charlton Heston	Henry Hooker
Thomas Haden Church	Billy Clanton
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson	Mattie Blaylock Earp
Harry Carey, Jr.	Marshal Fred White
Wyatt Earp III	Billy Claiborne
Billy Bob Thornton	Johnny Tyler
Paula Malcomson	Allie Earp
Lisa Collins	Louisa Earp
Terry O'Quinn	Mayor John Clum
Tomas Arana	Frank Stilwell

• Tombstone at the Internet Movie Database
• Tombstone at Rotten Tomatoes
• A look at historical inaccuracies in Tombstone, particularly as they apply to the game of faro
• A general look at historical inaccuracies of Tombstone