We discovered this week a movie from 2014.
A western comedy and parody at times.
We really enjoyed this movie. Laughter assured.
Too bad it didn’t get the success it deserves.
Here are details about this movie ( from Wikipedia and from other sources all reunited her in this article
A Million Ways to Die in the West is a 2014 American Western comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane, who wrote the screenplay with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. The film features an ensemble cast including MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, and Liam Neeson. The film follows a cowardly frontiersman who gains courage with the help of a female gunfighter and must use his newfound skills in a confrontation with her villainous outlaw husband.
Development for A Million Ways to Die in the West began while MacFarlane and co-writers Sulkin and Wild were watching western movies during the development of Ted. Casting was done between December 2012 and March 2013. Filming began on May 6, 2013, in various locations in New Mexico including Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and it concluded on August 9 that year. Joel McNeely composed the score.
The film was released on May 30, 2014, in the United States, and distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with criticism for its length. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 7, 2014, and earned more than $15 million in home media sales
In 1882, in the town of Old Stump, Arizona, timid sheep farmer Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane) has broken up with his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) as a result of his refusal to participate in a gunfight. He prepares to migrate to San Francisco, believing that the frontier offers nothing for him. Meanwhile, infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) robs and kills an old prospector (Matt Clark) for a gold nugget. He orders his right-hand man Lewis (Evan Jones) to escort his wife Anna (Charlize Theron) to Old Stump to lie low while he continues his banditry.
Lewis and Anna arrive in Old Stump under the disguise of two siblings intending to build a farm, but Lewis is arrested after shooting the Pastor’s (John Aylward) son in a saloon. During the brawl, Albert saves Anna from being crushed by two of the patrons, and the two become close friends. They attend a county fair where Louise’s new boyfriend, the arrogant Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), challenges Albert to a shooting contest. Albert is defeated, but Anna steps in and defeats Foy. Foy publicly humiliates Albert, who impulsively challenges Foy to a duel in a week’s time to win back Louise. Anna then spends the week teaching Albert how to shoot.
During a barn dance the night before the duel, Anna gives Foy a Mickey. After leaving the dance, Albert and Anna kiss before heading home. Upon breaking out of jail and murdering the sheriff, Lewis observes the kiss and reports it to Clinch. On the day of the duel, Foy arrives late and gets diarrhea from the laxative he had unknowingly drunk. Albert, who has decided that Louise is not worth fighting for, once again forfeits the duel. He retires to the saloon, but Clinch arrives and demands to know who kissed his wife. He reveals that Anna is his wife and threatens to continue killing more people unless his wife’s lover duels him at noon the next day. Later, Clinch confronts Anna by demanding that she reveal Albert’s name and his whereabouts or he will kill her. Before he attempts to have sex with her, she knocks him unconscious with a rock and escapes.
Anna returns to Albert’s farm to warn him about Clinch, but he chastises her for lying to him. Clinch, having regained consciousness, tracks down Anna to the farm, but Albert helps her escape, then escapes himself. While fleeing, he is captured by a tribe of Apache Indians, who threaten to burn him alive. The Apaches spare him when he reveals that he can speak their language. They give him a bowl of peyote, which sends him flashing back to his birth and through painful events of his childhood before making him realize that he loves Anna.
Meanwhile, Clinch recaptures Anna in town, but Albert returns to Old Stump and confronts him. He wounds Clinch with a bullet poisoned with rattlesnake venom before his own gun is shot out of his hand, but he manages to stall until Clinch fatally succumbs to the poison. Louise attempts to win back Albert, but he rejects her and instead happily enters a relationship with Anna, who becomes his new wife. Albert also receives a bounty for killing Clinch and uses the money to buy more sheep.
In a pre-credits scene, the proprietor of a racist shooting game called “Runaway Slave” at the fair asks who would like to take a shot. Django Freeman (Jamie Foxx) steps up and shoots the man while commenting that “people die at the fair”.
Casting
- Seth MacFarlane as Albert Stark, a wimpy but kind-hearted sheepherder.
- Mike Salazar as 6-year-old Albert
- Charlize Theron as Anna Barnes-Leatherwood, Clinch Leatherwood’s rebellious wife, who befriends Albert.
- Amanda Seyfried as Louise, Albert’s unappreciative ex-girlfriend.
- Liam Neeson as Clinch Leatherwood, a notorious outlaw and Anna’s abusive husband.
- Giovanni Ribisi as Edward, Albert’s best friend and Ruth’s boyfriend
- Neil Patrick Harris as Foy, a wealthy, snobby Old Stump inhabitant and Louise’s current boyfriend.
- Sarah Silverman as Ruth, Edward’s girlfriend and a prostitute.
- Christopher Hagen as George Stark, Albert’s abusive father.
- Wes Studi as Chief Cochise, the leader of Apache Indians
- Rex Linn as Sheriff/Narrator
- Alex Borstein as Millie, a madam at a local brothel which Ruth works at.
- Ralph Garman as Dan
- John Aylward as Pastor Wilson
- Amick Byram as Marcus Thornton
- Evan Jones as Lewis, a ruthlessly violent outlaw and Clinch Leatherwood’s right-hand man.
- Dylan Kenin as Pastor’s Son, the son of the town pastor, who is killed by Lewis in the bar.
- Matt Clark as the Old Prospector, an unfortunate victim of Clinch’s gang
Cameos
- Jamie Foxx, as Django Freeman, who shoots the owner of the “Runaway Slave” game. The scene was added after test audiences reacted poorly to the shooting gallery’s cartoon black slaves as targets.
- Ryan Reynolds as cowboy killed in bar
- Tait Fletcher as Cowboy
- Gilbert Gottfried as Abraham Lincoln, seen during Albert’s drug trip.
- Mike Henry as smiling man in photograph
- Dennis Haskins as snake oil salesman
- John Michael Higgins as Dandy
- Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown, Albert stumbles across Doc working on the DeLorean time machine.
- Bill Maher as comic
- Ewan McGregor as a cowboy who laughed at Albert’s expense at the fair.
- Alec Sulkin as guy at fair
- Rupert Boneham as guy in bar fight
- Kaley Cuoco as a woman that Albert tries to pick up in a store.
- Patrick Stewart as a long legged sheep seen during Albert’s drug trip.
- Mae Whitman as Prostitute
- Jackamoe Buzzell as Another Cowboy
The score was composed by Joel McNeely. The soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on May 27, 2014. The theme song “A Million Ways to Die” is performed by Alan Jackson. It was released as a single on April 29, 2014. A portion of the Back to the Future theme by Alan Silvestri is used during Christopher Lloyd’s cameo. Near the end of the movie, the refrain of “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora is used as a fictional “Muslim Death Chant.” Track listing
All music is composed by Joel McNeely, except as noted.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | “A Million Ways to Die” (performed by Alan Jackson) | 2:27 |
2. | “Main Title” | 2:33 |
3. | “Missing Louise” | 2:08 |
4. | “Old Stump” | 0:45 |
5. | “Saloon Brawl” | 1:50 |
6. | “Rattlesnake Ridge” | 1:28 |
7. | “People Die at the Fair” | 2:11 |
8. | “The Shooting Lesson” | 2:16 |
9. | “The Barn Dance” | 2:29 |
10. | “If You’ve Only Got a Moustache” (composed by Stephen Foster, performed by Amick Byram) | 1:31 |
11. | “Anna and Albert” | 4:19 |
12. | “Clinch Hunts Albert” | 3:41 |
13. | “Racing the Train” | 2:21 |
14. | “Captured by Cochise” | 2:07 |
15. | “Albert Takes a Trip” | 2:24 |
16. | “The Showdown” | 2:20 |
17. | “Sheep to the Horizon” | 2:00 |
18. | “End Title Suite” |
Box office
A Million Ways to Die in the West grossed $43.1 million in North America and $43.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $86.4 million, against its $40 million budget.
The film grossed $16.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing in third place at the box office behind fellow newcomer Maleficent and the previous weekend’s opener X-Men: Days of Future Past. This was below expectations of $26 million. In its second weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing an additional $7.3 million. In its third weekend, the film dropped to number eight, grossing $3.2 million. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number 11, grossing $1.6 million.




