Wagons East

Wagons East
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Markle
Written byMatthew Carlson
Produced by
  • Gary Goodman
  • Robert Newmyer
  • Barry Rosen
  • Jeffrey Silver
Starring
CinematographyFrank Tidy
Edited byScott Conrad
Music byMichael Small
Production
company
Distributed byTriStar Pictures
Release date
  • August 26, 1994 (1994-08-26)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$4.4 million

Wagons East (sometimes styled as Wagons East!) is a 1994 American Western adventure comedy film directed by Peter Markle, written by Matthew Carlson, and starring John Candy, Richard Lewis, John C. McGinley, Ellen Greene, Robert Picardo, Rodney A. Grant, and Ed Lauter. It tells the story of an alcoholic wagon master who leads a group of misfit settlers in the Wild West back to the East. The film was released in the United States on August 26, 1994. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico, and in Durango, Mexico.[1]

During the final days of the film's production in Durango, Mexico, John Candy died of a heart attack at the age of 43.[2] Script re-writes, a stand-in and special effects were used to complete his remaining scenes, and it was released five months after his death.[3] The film marked Candy's penultimate performance with the film being dedicated in memory of him as well as the film being the last Carolco Pictures production to be distributed by TriStar Pictures.

The film was panned by critics with the rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film grossed $4.4 million at the box office.

  1. ^ "Filming Location Matching "Sierra de Organos, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico" (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Phil Reeves (March 5, 1994). "Actor John Candy dies in Mexico". The Independent. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Daily Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved May 31, 2020.