Western Alert: Susan Sarandon Circles 'Big Valley'

The Western world is coming back in a big way as cinema's next enormous resurgence. On the heels of news that Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds are circling Gunsmoke, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Susan Sarandon is in talks to star in a big-screen remake of the television show The Big Valley. Kate Edelman Johnson, daughter of the show's creator, is producing the project, Daniel Adams wrote the screenplay and will direct, and should Sarandon sign on, she'll play Victoria Barkley, the character originally played by Barbara Stanwyck. Set in the 1870s, Barkley is a widowed matriarch of the Barkley Ranch in California's San Joaquin Valley. Unlike many westerns, and other projects for that matter, Barkley was the woman in charge, holding her own against threats of thieves and ne'er do-wells that might descend upon the ranch in typical Hollywood fashion. But she wasn't alone, having the company of her helpful lawyer son, a rancher son and helper step-son, and a beautiful horse-handy daughter...read more