YOUNG GUNS 3: DEAD OR ALIVE: Emilio Estevez Set to Revive Old Western Franchise with a Couple of Former Cast Members

Emilio Estevez To Return in Third Film in Western Series

Emilio Estevez is continuing the Young Guns saga with a third movie slated to eventually go into production at some point.

If you thought the old Young Guns Western films were long behind us, you’re dead wrong. This series is very much alive. Emilio Estevez is digging into the vault and looking to revive which was once thought to be a finished franchise. This new tale, Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive, will extend the adventures of some of the characters found in the other two pictures. Estevez has tapped himself to direct the project and reprise his role as Billy the Kid from the earlier movies.

Joining Estevez will be Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater from the previous pictures, but the title of the series is Young Guns, so there will have to be other new characters added to the series. This news comes on the heels of Estevez making the news for having written a sequel to a Stephen King film he starred in during the 1980’s called Maximum Overdrive. That movie featured a demonic green face on a truck that was scary even though the movie faltered with critics and at the box-office. I wouldn’t hold my breath as to that sequel materializing, but, hey, you never know.

Estevez had a solid career and even proved he could direct with The War at Home, Wisdom and Men at Work. In the very funny Men at Work, he starred with his brother, Charlie, as a couple of garbage men. In Widsom, Estevez appeared with Demi Moore who previously worked on St. Elmo’s Fire with him as well. With The War at Home, he directed Oscar-worthy performers such as Martin Sheen, his dad, and Kathy Bates in what I believe was an underappreciated dramatic gem. Estevez went on to direct another gem, Bobby. Estevez also attended a reunion for The Breakfast Club recently. He’s been busy these days trying to get back into the spotlight it seems.

1988’s Young Guns earned $45 million and was released by Fox/Morgan Creek around the height of Estevez and its other stars’ popularity. Young Guns II didn’t improve upon that gross, but rather earned $1 million less than its predecessor. Still, people who remember the earlier films may want to see another Western with the three aforementioned former stars at the helm. Both of the films in the franchise received “A-” CinemaScores suggesting audiences liked what they saw. Critics didn’t care for either picture, though, with the first one standing at 43% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and the second faring even worse on the critics’ scale.

The third Young Guns will center itself in Mexico, for the most part, according to Estevez. Consider its story line to be Billy the Kid meets Pancho Villa. Set before World War I, Estevez’s plot for the third installment seems earnest enough to warrant the film a streaming release, at the very least, one day. It would be hard to get this into theaters unless some of the new “young guns” are established box-office draws.

Leave your thoughts on Emilio Estevez’s next big movie being revealed as Young Guns 3 below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more movie news can visit our Movie News Page, our Movie News Twitter Page, and our Movie News Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, Flipboard, and Threads. This news was brought to our attention by MovieWeb and MovieWeb.