Bone Tomahawk

Bone Tomahawk
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. Craig Zahler
Written byS. Craig Zahler
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBenji Bakshi
Edited by
Music by
  • Jeff Herriott
  • S. Craig Zahler
Production
companies
  • Caliber Media Company[1]
  • The Fyzz Facility
Distributed byRLJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • October 1, 2015 (2015-10-01) (Fantastic Fest)
  • October 23, 2015 (2015-10-23) (United States)
Running time
132 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.8 million[3]
Box office$475,846[4]

Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler in his directorial debut, and starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, Zahn McClarnon and Sid Haig. It was produced by Jack Heller and Dallas Sonnier. The film is about a small-town sheriff who leads a posse into a desolate region to rescue three people who were abducted by a cannibalistic Native American clan.

Development of the film started when Zahler's friend and manager Sonnier recommended creating a film adaptation of Zahler's Western novel Wraiths of a Broken Land. Realizing that such a project could not be adapted on a low budget, Zahler opted to write a rescue Western instead. Casting began in October 2014, with Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Olyphant, and Jennifer Carpenter signed on to play before being replaced by Wilson, Fox, and Simmons respectively due to scheduling conflicts. Principal photography took place in California over a course of 21 days in October 2014.

The premiere of Bone Tomahawk took place at Fantastic Fest on October 1, 2015. RLJ Entertainment gave the film a limited release on October 23, grossing over $480,000 in theater sales and $4.32 million in home media sales against a $1.8 million budget. The film received mainly positive reviews, with praise for Zahler's screenplay and direction and the performances of the ensemble cast.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sneider was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Bone Tomahawk (18)". British Board of Film Classification. October 7, 2015. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. ^ Godfrey, Alex (February 15, 2016). "Best Western: Why Bone Tomahawk Became a Gunslinging Cult Hit". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  4. ^ "Bone Tomahawk (2015) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2018.