Get ready for a sequel to 'Dances with Wolves'

[MayChe]

From Variety.com

Director set for 'Wolves' sequel
Simon Wincer signs on to 'The Holy Road'
By TATIANA SIEGEL

Simon Wincer has signed on to direct "The Holy Road" -- a sequel to "Dances With Wolves" -- for Moonstone, Amicus Entertainment and Double Eagle Films.
Film, which is being presented to international buyers at AFM, is penned by Michael Blake, who wrote the screenplay for "Wolves" as well as the two novels on which the two films are based.

Story picks up 11 years after "Wolves" as the Comanche tribe is in steady decline and the threat of white settlers looms. The title "Holy Road" refers to the transcontinental railroad, which is a symbol of the clash of civilizations.

Wincer most recently helmed the Steven Spielberg-produced Emmy winner "Into the West." He also directed the Western miniseries "Lonesome Dove."

[Mato Winyan]

I hadn't heard about this. So is any of the old cast going to be in this or what? I'm wondering if it's going to be a lower budget thing and not do justice to it. One thing I do hope is that this time it's about the indian and not a story about a white man like in Costner's version.

[Lakota Wiyan]

I hadn't heard about this. So is any of the old cast going to be in this or what? I'm wondering if it's going to be a lower budget thing and not do justice to it. One thing I do hope is that this time it's about the indian and not a story about a white man like in Costner's version.

I agree. I think that if this project is attempted, it could be done in a much more powerful way by telling the story FROM our point of view. Even the movie "Into The West", was predominately from the White Guys point of view, with just glimpses into the Native people's world. I hope that it is done with respect....

[Tom Iron Eagle]

Movie Sequel

Actually as much as many said the first film was from a white man's perspective - well it was supposed to be as that is the story in the book. The Book "Dances With Wolves" is written as a 1st person narrative of the main character. The film's screenplay follows that plot very well. So the movie is not so much Costner's version as it really is the story line in the book. In early interviews it was discovered that Costner wanted to follow the book almost literally but some changes had to be made. For example after seeing that filming in Texas and the Southern Plains would not work they moved to the Dakota's and Northen Plains and thus caused the main Tribe to be changed from Comanche to Lakota.

For Hollywood to make a movie from the Native perspective they need a good book or screenplay from a Native perspective and then of course a producer and director willing to make it.

As for making a sequel to the film that may be hard pressed to do because with any sequel you really need the same actors to reprise the roles. We see this all to often in Hollywood and the sequel goes bad with different looks and personalities. Book sequels are easy and fun as we use our imagination to keep the characters looks and personality the same - BUT movies are a whole different story. You need the same actors to keep the characters the same.

[crazywolf]

For Hollywood to make a movie from the Native perspective they need a good book or screenplay from a Native perspective and then of course a producer and director willing to make it.

Nah they just need to get someone like Sherman Alexie or Winona LaDuke in the hot seat tellin everyone what to do. Then a movie would be made that we can truely appreciate. There are other good authors out there too. Sad thing is, in the white mans perspective they are not money making ideas.

My cousin and I sat down to watch Smoke Signals one time. He was raised more white than I, and continues to live that lifestyle. I can truely appreciate the movie, while the only thing that interested him was the car driving backwards.

When they want to see a drama about us, it would be us showing the true American spirit, as in Windtalkers or Flags of our Fathers. As far as the majority of white society goes, our lives are pretty boring. They cannot comprehend our ways of thinking or spiritual beliefs. When they want to come see us they go to pow wows and see all of us dressed in pretty colored regalia dancing around and think wow, thats great. Its good for a day trip but not a lot of material for a 2 hour movie.

But its funny though. People from around the world would rather learn about us than people from this own country. Maybe we need to make a movie, translate it into Russian and export it over there. Now before anyone goes and laughs or gives me any red beads I am serious. I danced at an international festival and was mobbed by foriegn poparatssi. I even had to figure some way of shooting some footage of me dancing for this one lady (from Russia) who was pretty insistant of taking something back.

OK thats it, I have said enough... go ahead. Pick on me.

[Tom Iron Eagle]

Movie in Europe would do well.

No you are exactly right CrazyWolf.

Europeans are fascinated with Native American Culture and have been since the early 19th Century. If anybody has traveled and performed in Eurpoe they would know this.

They also love being a part of the cutlure holding their own dances and gatherings. That of course has been a hot topic on this site too and I will not go into that here.

But most that have seen the European love of our culture have also seen some exquisite Native American Arts and Crafts by the Europeans.

A movie from a Native thought would do well in Europe.

[MayChe]

Here's a review of the book:

One of the best compliments that an audience can pay to a movie is to walk out of the theater wondering, "What happens next?" That was certainly the case with the 1991 Academy Award-winning epic, Dances With Wolves, which ended with Kevin Costner and a band of Lakota Sioux traveling up a snowy hillside into an uncertain future. Although the movie was three hours long, it felt as though it could go on forever, with the audience wondering where the story would go from there.

THE HOLY ROAD is the predictable, almost inevitable sequel to DANCES WITH WOLVES, telling the story of former Army Lieutenant John Dunbar (adopted into a Native American tribe as a brother warrior) and his people as they face an invasion of white settlers. If it does nothing else, THE HOLY ROAD shows how DANCES WITH WOLVES ended at just the right point; sadly, there is nowhere for the story to go now but downhill.

THE HOLY ROAD begins 10 years after DANCES WITH WOLVES ends. Jarringly for fans of the movie, the action takes place in the Comanche nation of the desert Southwest rather than the Dakotas. Dances with Wolves and his wife, Stands with a Fist, are now completely integrated into Comanche life; they have three children and are leaders of the tribe. But the life of the Comanche is changing, and the people are divided as to what they should do.

THE HOLY ROAD tells of the sunset days of the Comanche. Hunters are shooting the buffalo indiscriminately. Homesteaders are encroaching on Comanche hunting grounds. "Hair-mouthed" soldiers are seemingly everywhere to protect the settlers. The new transcontinental railroad --- one of the many "holy" roads of the title --- has made its way through to California, necessitating the taming of the indigenous population. And a group of Quakers serving as government agents have arrived on the frontier, trying to persuade Comanche leaders to accept life on the reservation.

This is an oft-told tale, the basis of several generations of Westerns. THE HOLY ROAD is different only in that it is told exclusively from the perspective of the Comanche people --- or, rather, from several different perspectives. Author Michael Blake separates his narrative into chapters focusing on the lives of individual Comanches. Wind In His Hair, leader of the "Hard Shields" warrior group, wants to fight the invaders and throw them back. Kicking Bird (played in the original movie by Graham Greene) is at the other end of the spectrum; he is curious about the whites and is willing to talk peace. The ancient chieftain Ten Bears is unable to resolve the conflict between these disparate views and frets about the future of the tribe. Dances With Wolves wants nothing more than to be left alone with his family, but this is not a choice that is open to him any longer.

Because Blake's sympathies are wholly with the Comanche, THE HOLY ROAD plays like a negative print of an old John Wayne movie; black is white and white is black. The Comanche are consistently portrayed as noble and reasonable people, at one with the buffalo and the plains, wanting only to be left alone. On the other hand, Blake demythologizes and demonizes such cherished Western icons as the frontier cavalry and the Texas Rangers, portraying them as bloody-minded hooligans intent only on scalping innocent Comanches. The white characters are, without much exception, presented as either vicious savages or well-meaning fools.

THE HOLY ROAD is a good, poignant read, telling an important story from the perspective of those who were in no position to tell their own story. It is a book of extraordinary insight and sympathy, explaining the vast cultural and psychological gulf that separated the warring forces on the frontier. Unfortunately, very few readers of THE HOLY ROAD will be looking forward to a sequel once the book closes. We know, only too well, where the story goes from here.

[Ojibwe_Ikwe]

Howah

That should be a Goot one.

[Blackbear]

does'nt sound promising to me... but I'll watch it anyhow. And was'nt the original he was with the cheyenne?

[ndnmama80]

For Hollywood to make a movie from the Native perspective they need a good book or screenplay from a Native perspective and then of course a producer and director willing to make it.

As for making a sequel to the film that may be hard pressed to do because with any sequel you really need the same actors to reprise the roles. We see this all to often in Hollywood and the sequel goes bad with different looks and personalities. Book sequels are easy and fun as we use our imagination to keep the characters looks and personality the same - BUT movies are a whole different story. You need the same actors to keep the characters the same.

Although I will be watching the movie once it comes out, like I know the rest of you will,lol...I'm not expecting to totally like it BECAUSE it'll be a sequel...and if they are using the same characters, no one likes to see totally different people in the role of characters we are used to...like the ones we watched over the years in Dances With Wolves. It's just weird...
And from what I heard, Kevin Costner is not in this film.


And as much as we like to make fun of the original, we've all watched it, numerous times, and probably even own it! lol


And yeah, it'd be nice to have more movies made from a Natives perspective, but I'm sure funding is hard to come by for the people that have the stories to tell.


But why can't we appreciate that we are EVEN in movies, why are we bothered so much that it's not Natives putting these movies out? And about how it's told by the white man's perspective? If we want our history to be told, well that included the white settlers and the killing of Natives by soldiers. But no one ever critizizes the Natives acting in all these movies either...


We can't have it all, so let's just sit back, let them put all their hard work and money into making these movies...and if we don't like them, well, we don't have to watch them or buy them.

OK?? OK....




So who's up for watching Dances With Wolves with me?!

[siouxner_sweetie]

Being Lakota, I personally enjoyed the "Into the West" series. Watching the bonus material (my grandmother owns this series on DVD) will give you a better appreciation of the precautionary measures the directors went through in ensuring that this series was as historically accurate as possible. One of the directors even said something to the effect that one of the Lakotas in the movie pointed out that there are good indians and good white people, but there are also bad indians and bad white people. The director mentioned that in their research, it became increasingly difficult to find the good whites, while it was easy to find the good indians. Tribal elders and other natives were highly consulted during the making of this series...and it is funny bc my mom is watching it right now!!

Dances with Wolves...was overly cheesy. BUT it did bring attention to Natives, especially Lakotas, and hopefully intrigued whites to research my tribe (or natives in general). Of course since it was taped near my fam's rez pretty much my whole family was in that movie, running around crazy. For years after that, you could walk into pretty much any house on the rez and there would be a Dances with Wolves poster hanging up on the wall!! I do however sincerely appreciate Costner's genuine infatuation with my tribe & natives in general. (Don't you love how all these whites are building cabins into the sides of our beautiful Paha Sapa??)

HOPEFULLY since the same people who worked on Into the West are working on this one, it will be a little bit more authentic that Dances with Wolves. Sensitivity can never be too much when dealing with a culture foreign from your own, and since they showed a great deal of sensitivity, I am sure that this film will bring more attention to natives.

The main thing about our culture v. their culture is that they are completely ignorant of the things that have occurred to us (and I can tell you, continue to occur). You can clearly see that belief developing throughout the series of Into the West "they aren't humans." Maybe this is the beginning of an apology from America, maybe this will spark the genuine interest of the American people...one can only hope.

My faves are SMOKE SIGNALS (haha, love the rez car)
Into the West
Dreamkeeper...love all of the stories