Fresh off of playing one of the great ancestors of the Dutton clan in 1883, Tim McGraw has found a new project revolving around a ranch to attach himself to. He’s now set to produce and star in The Unbelievers, a film hailing from veteran stunt director and performer Mike Watson. It’s a passion project for Watson, who’ll both write and direct the film.
The Unbelievers will keep McGraw in a similar line of work as the Western prequel series, albeit in 1961 instead of 1883. This time around, he plays a drifter named John Banyon who stops and settles down for a moment to aid a widow in maintaining her Texas ranch. As he works, however, a local grifter recognizes him from his old underground box car fighting days, bringing his shady past back to haunt him.
Joining McGraw and Watson in bringing the passion project together is casting director Jeanette Benzie and fellow stuntman and actor Ted Larkin as an executive producer. Also on board are executive producers George Bennett for Worldmakr & MEP Capital and Marco Gomez for Venture Hill Entertainment. The Unbelievers is produced by Fabio Golombek and FJ Productions.
McGraw and Watson should both work well together given their recent time working together on 1883. While McGraw was focused on the journey out west, Watson was performing all the most dangerous stunts for his co-star Sam Elliot. Watson has a ton of experience doing stunt work for westerns in general, with Westworld, True Grit, Django Unchained, and Deadwood among his myriad of credits over the years. Though not known for directing, Watson has been around plenty of massive production in his time, ranging back to the Back to the Future sequels and later Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Watson was excited to team with McGraw once more in a greater capacity, saying in a statement:
What I admire most in actors is the strength that is shown in stillness. I watched Tim McGraw work for five months on the set of 1883, and that is exactly what he did while showing great vulnerability. Looking forward to collaborating with him on this passion project.
Thanks to Yellowstone and 1883, McGraw is well-acquainted with westerns, though he’s proven his acting chops plenty of times before. The country music star has been a part of two big football movies in Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side, though he played one of the lead roles in the 2006 film Flicka. Also among his credits is the George Clooney-led Tomorrowland.
The Unbelievers currently has no release window and there is much to be done on Watson’s film. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on McGraw’s latest leading role.
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