3:10 to Yuma (2007)
3:10 to Yuma is a 2007 American western action drama film directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles with supporting performances by Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, and Logan Lerman. It is about a drought- impoverished rancher (Bale) who takes on the dangerous job of taking a notorious outlaw (Crowe) to justice. It is the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 1953 short story “Three-Ten to Yuma”, after the 1957 film of the same name. Filming took place in various locations in New Mexico. 3:10 to Yuma opened September 7, 2007, in the United States and received positive reviews from critics. It grossed $71 million worldwide on the budget of $48-$55 million.RELATED:
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Plot.
In 1884 Arizona, Dan Evans is a poor rancher and Civil War veteran who owes money to the wealthy Glen Hollander. One night, Hollander’s men burn down his barn and scatter his cattle as a warning to pay his debts. The next morning Evans and his two sons are searching for their lost herd when they stumble upon Ben Wade and his gang robbing an armored stagecoach staffed by Pinkertons. Wade sees Evans and his two sons watching from the hills and decides that they aren’t a threat to his gang, so Wade takes their horses, promising to leave them tied up “on the road to Bisbee”,
so that Evans can recover them, but won’t be able to give warning immediately. After Wade’s gang departs, Evans rescues the lone surviving coach guard, Byron McElroy, left alive but severely wounded.
Wade and his gang ride to Bisbee to drink at the local saloon and divide up the loot. The gang departs but Wade chooses to stay behind to enjoy the company of the barmaid. Evans brings McElroy to veterinarian/lawman Doc Potter, then tries in vain to negotiate his debt with Hollander. Evans then finds Wade emerging from an upstairs room in the saloon and coaxes a few dollars from
Wade over the trouble he caused Evans. As the two talk, lawmen surround the saloon and arrest Wade.
Grayson Butterfield, the railroad’s representative, hires a posse consisting of McElroy, Potter, Tucker (one of Hollander’s men), and Evans to take Wade to Contention, where Wade is to be put on the 3:10 afternoon train to Yuma Territorial Prison. Evans asks for $200 (equivalent to $5,600 in 2021) to deliver Wade, which Butterfield agrees to. The group meet at Evans’ ranch, where McElroy arranges for a decoy wagon to distract Wade’s gang.
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Production.
In June 2003, Columbia Pictures announced a negotiation with Mangold to helm a remake of the 1957 Western film 3:10 to Yuma, based on a script written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. After being apart from the project for several years, Mangold resumed his role as director in February 2006. Production was slated to begin in summer 2006. In the same month, Tom Cruise expressed an interest in starring as the villain in the film. Eric Bana also briefly sought a role in the film. In summer 2006, Columbia placed the film in turnaround, and the project was acquired by Relativity Media. Crowe and Bale were cast as the main characters, and Relativity began seeking a distributor for the film. By September, Lions Gate Entertainment signed on to distribute the film. Later in the month, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster, and Vinessa Shaw were cast.
Filming was slated to begin on October 23, 2006, in New Mexico. On the first day of filming, a rider and his horse were seriously injured in a scene when the horse ran directly into a camera-carrying vehicle instead of veering off as planned. The rider was hospitalized, and the horse had to be euthanized on the set. The animal’s death prompted an investigation from the American Humane Association. By November, the AHA concluded its investigation, finding that the horse did not respond accordingly due to having received a dual training approach and the rider not being familiar with the mount. The organization recommended no charges against the producers. Principal photography took place in and around Santa Fe, Abiquiú, and Galisteo.
Release.
3:10 to Yuma was originally slated for an October 5, 2007 release, but Lionsgate moved the film’s release a month earlier to September 7, 2007, to beat competing Western films The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and No Country for Old Men. As a result of the move, the studio was not able to use the Toronto International Film Festival as a platform for the film’s release, but it was released before a cluster of films similarly vying for awards. According to Lionsgate president Tom Ortenberg, “In what is shaping up to be a very impressive and crowded field of upscale commercial motion pictures this fall, we wanted to be one of the first ones out, so that everything else will be measured against us.” The earlier theatrical run positioned it for a prominent high-definition Blu-ray Disc and DVD release in the first week of January, during awards seasons. Lionsgate similarly planned this strategy for Crash (2004), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year.