Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe to star in a new Western

Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe
(Image credit: Universal/Lionsgate)

Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe are teaming up to star in a new Western from director Walter Hill titled Dead for a Dollar.

Set in New Mexico Territory, Chihuahua, in 1897, the movie will follow Max Borlund (Waltz), a famed bounty hunter who's hired to find the wife of a successful California businessman, who he believes is being held for ransom in Mexico. However, when Max heads across the border, he encounters his nemesis Joe Cribbens (Dafoe), a professional gambler and occasional outlaw, who Max had previously hunted down and sent to prison. On top of that, is the businessman's wife's disappearance everything it appears to be on the surface? 

This will be Hill's first time in the director's chair since 2016's The Assignment, an action thriller starring Michelle Rodriguez, Tony Shalhoub, and Sigourney Weaver, and only his fourth project in the last two decades. Hill is known for directing Western movies like The Long Riders, Wild Bill, and Last Man Standing, as well as producing the Alien movies. 

As for the stars of the movie, Waltz is perhaps best known for his roles in the Quentin Tarantino movies Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. He can next be seen in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch and the new James Bond movie, No Time to Die

Dafoe, meanwhile, is also next due to appear in The French Dispatch – his other upcoming projects include Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley and Robert Eggers' The Northman. He's worked with Hill before, on 1984's Streets of Fire, which co-starred Diane Lane and Rick Moranis. 

"We are extremely pleased to be working with the legendary Walter Hill who has created a Western with contemporary themes and modern feeling characters," said Kirk D’Amico, CEO and president of production company Myriad Pictures. "Award-winning actors Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe will embody the extraordinary leading roles which are destined for cinematic history."

Dead for a Dollar doesn't have a release date yet. In the meantime, while we wait for it to arrive on the big screen, fill out your watch list with our picks of the best movies of 2020

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.