Stefano Sollima is back with 'Colt', Sergio Leone's dream miniseries

By Rafa Martín

May 16, 2019

Stefano Sollima, the director of “Sicario: El día del soldado y Gomorra”, has recovered a project originally conceived by the maestro Sergio Leone and now rescued by his heirs. It is a western, and it is called “Colt”.

The history of Colt began in 1987, when Leone contacted his collaborators Sergio Donati and Fulvio Morsella with an idea that he intended to sneak onto television. ‘Colt’ was a tribute to the Anthony Mann classic, “Winchester 73”, starring a revolver, the thread of several stories starring the respective gunmen who put their hands on the weapon. Leone conceived it as a much more revisionist work than previous films of the genre. It was originally conceived as a TV series and takes its cue from the six-shooter packed by Clint Eastwood in “A Fistful of Dollars,” which becomes a narrative device as it is passes from owner to owner throughout the Old West.

Donati even went so far as to write a treatment that has appeared from time to time over the past years. The operation to rescue the story is not new, hence the term "recovered". In fact, there is news as recent as a couple of years ago: Sollima and Leone's heirs had the idea of ​​maintaining the miniseries format, in at least six episodes. It never came to fruition.

Now after a few tweaks. The first, which ceases to be a miniseries is to become a feature film. The second, that instead of gunmen, Sollima has put children as protagonists of the film. "A story of rite of maturity," explains the director, "for three children between 12 and 13 years old who end up with the gun in their hands and who, for various reasons, end up becoming criminals." Sollima is in advanced talks for a top U.S. writer to come on board. “I want to take the [Spaghetti] Western genre back home” to Italy, added Sollima, whose late father, Sergio, was the Spaghetti Western pioneer who directed Lee Van Cleef-starrer “The Big Gundown.”

Stefano Sollima, the Italian director known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” and TV series “Gomorrah,” is set to shoot “Colt,” an English-language Western based on a Sergio Leone concept. The plan is to start shooting next winter.

“Colt” is being produced by Leone’s children Raffaella and Andrea, via their Leone Film Group. They are shopping the project in Cannes to prospective U.S. partners.

Originally conceived as a TV series, “Colt” takes its cue from the six-shooter packed by Clint Eastwood in “A Fistful of Dollars,” which becomes a narrative device as it is passes from owner to owner throughout the Old West.

Sollima, who is in advanced talks for a top U.S. writer to come on board, has tweaked Leone’s concept so that the gun changes hands between kids.

“It’s a coming-of-age story of three kids, aged 12 or 13, who as orphans come into possession of this weapon, and for a whole series of reasons become criminals,” he said, adding: “I can assure you that a 12-year-old with a Colt in his hand is pretty striking.

“I want to take the [Spaghetti] Western genre back home” to Italy, added Sollima, whose late father, Sergio, was the Spaghetti Western pioneer who directed Lee Van Cleef-starrer “The Big Gundown.”

As in the Westerns of Italy’s glory days, Sollima and the Leones are seeking A-list U.S. talent for the several adult characters, including a lead protagonist and antagonist, besides the three young teens, who will be unknowns.  “We are very cautious when it comes to anything that has to do with my father,” Raffaella Leone added. “Our enthusiasm means we are fully convinced.” Raffaella said the idea to make the shift from a TV series to a movie stemmed from Sollima’s vision of the project. “There are almost too many TV series these days,” she said, noting that the goal is to make “Colt” a high-profile event movie that will be fresh “in terms of narrative, pace and approach.” Leone is producing via the group’s Lotus Production shingle with Italy’s RAI Cinema on board. They plan is to start shooting this winter in Canada, since the setting is mountainous, unlike Leone’s desert-set Westerns.

Sollima specified that “Colt” would target a young audience. “I once told my kids, who are in their early teens, ‘I’d like to do a Western,’ and they said: ‘What is a Western?'” he said. “Their generation doesn’t know Westerns. They haven’t seen them at the movies. I thought it would be interesting to draw them into this genre with a story that speaks to them.”