The year is 1873 and the place is Absolution, Ariz. A stranger with a weird device on his wrist suddenly appears but he has no memories of his past. This guy spells trouble, thinks Col. Dolarhyde, the heavy-handed officer who controls everything that happens in town.
Just as the stranger is getting the boot, Absolution is attacked by some unidentified flying objects and needs him more than ever. As the townsfolk are taken away by the crafts one by one, the stranger realizes more and more about his past and what purpose he can serve to help these innocent and downtrodden people. Once again, the stranger becomes the saviour.
That’s the gist of Cowboys and Aliens, the science-fiction gunslinger saga getting its Hollywood treatment starting Friday. It started its life as a graphic novel co-written by Edmontonian Andrew Foley, who will be making an appearance in Morinville tomorrow. Naturally, the topic of conversation might lead straight toward his story that is getting so much attention lately, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the only line of discussion.
“I’m happy to talk about whatever people want to talk about,” Foley admitted.
The genial and casual writer has a lot of insight to offer about the worlds of writing, entertainment and business in general. He said that there are a lot of lines that get blurred and that not everything is as glamorous as it seems.
“I didn’t really think [the film] was cool until it had Harrison Ford in it!”
The whole process of the book being sold and translated into a blockbuster script was entirely out of his hands. Even while writing it, there were a lot of limits placed on him by the publisher that changed his vision and the scope of the story.
“I expect, in this particular case, that the movie is going to be vastly different from the book. I suspect it’ll be the better for it, to be perfectly honest.”
He really didn’t even know much about the whole process, and didn’t really have a lot of faith that it would actually even get made.
“I don’t really have anything to do with the movie so it’s an interesting thing to watch as a bystander. They said, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got the guys who wrote Transformers [screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman].’ I’m like, ‘That’s interesting, but it’ll never get made because nothing in Hollywood ever gets made.’”
He had the same response when he learned that director Jon Favreau (of Iron Man fame) was attached, and then James Bond actor Daniel Craig.
“Then: ‘We’ve got Harrison Ford!’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it might actually get made.’ Then it did actually get made and I’m still stunned.”
Jay Bardyla, the owner of Edmonton’s Happy Harbor Comics, the sponsor of the Morinville event, had much the same reaction to the popular actor being cast.
“James Bond and Han Solo in the same movie? C’mon… that’s a nerd-gasm right there!”
One of Foley’s other graphic novels, a series called Done to Death, will be released in a collectors’ edition format in September.
The Morinville Public Library will host Foley and Bardyla tomorrow at 7 p.m. The event is free and attendees don’t need to RSVP beforehand.
Because of renovations, the library has actually moved to the Parish Hall, but the talk itself will take place at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre, located at 9502 100 Ave., right next to the Morinville Community High School.
For more information about the event, call the library at 780-939-3292 or visit www.morinville.ca.
