Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman became household names starring in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. Steven Spielberg loved "Attack of the Clones," in particular, despite fans considering it George Lucas's worst. Nowadays, they're looked at fondly considering how divisive the sequel trilogy has been, with many seeing Disney as further diluting the "Star Wars" brand with TV shows of varying quality. Despite not working together again in the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," McGregor did reunite with Portman in a Western drama with one of the worst production cycles in Hollywood history.
"Jane Got a Gun," set in 1871, stars Portman as Jane Hammond, a woman whose husband Bill (Noah Emmerich) is part of a gang led by the notorious John Bishop (McGregor). When Bill has a falling out with the crew, they riddle him with bullets. He manages to return home to his estranged wife while on the verge of death. Knowing the gang is going to finish the job, Jane enlists the help of her ex-fiancé, Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton, another prequel trilogy alum), to help fend off the gang.
"Jane Got a Gun" came out in 2015, and despite its script once being a hot commodity in Hollywood, the film was panned by both critics and audiences. It became a commercial flop, earning about $3 million against a budget of $25 million. The movie was plagued with behind-the-scenes drama, with the director leaving, major actors walking out, and multi-year delays.
Production troubles plagued the film
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The screenplay for "Jane Got a Gun" appeared in 2011's "Black List," a list of the hottest unproduced screenplays with the potential to catapult writers out of obscurity. The script was purchased by Scott Productions, an independent production company, in 2012. Acclaimed "We Need to Talk About Kevin" director Lynne Ramsay was at the helm, with Michael Fassbender playing the heroic ex-flame, and Joel Edgerton taking the role of the villainous gang leader.
Fassbender dropped out days before filming began in 2013 to film "X-Men: Days of Future Past." Edgerton was quickly promoted to hero, despite not commanding as much star power, with Jude Law taking his former role. Filming was supposed to begin on March 18, 2013 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, only for the cast and crew to learn that Ramsay had walked out the night before due to conflicts with producer Scott Steindorff over creative control. Law immediately exited upon hearing this because he really wanted to work with Ramsay.
To save the project, the producers scrambled to find a replacement for Ramsay, landing on "Warrior" director Gavin O'Connor. Filming began on Thursday, March 21, 2013. Bradley Cooper replaced Law in April, but ended up dropping out in May due to scheduling conflicts with "American Hustle," sending the production into deep distress, yet again. Luckily, O'Connor locked in McGregor that same month, bringing an accidental "Star Wars" prequel reunion with it. The problems were far from over, though.
Delays and negative reception
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When "Jane Got a Gun" was done, distribution partners Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company pushed its release to February 20, 2015. Afterward, it got pushed further by an additional six months to September 4, 2015. On the road to that release date, Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving many wondering if this movie would ever come out. The Weinstein Company stepped in to acquire full distribution rights, finally setting the release date for January 29, 2016, in the U.S.
With the U.S. release now in early 2016, it meant the movie was no longer in the running when awards season came. It was another blow because the film looked to be an awards contender. But when reviews started rolling in late January on the lead-up to its release day, critics started pointing out one thing: The movie wasn't good. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 43% score on the Tomatometer from critics, with the consensus saying it "flounders between campy Western and hard-hitting revisionist take on the genre, leaving Natalie Portman's committed performance stranded in the dust."
Many critics felt it didn't deliver on its feminist title, with (spoiler) Jane only using the gun she got in the movie's climax. Dan does all the killing in between. The audience didn't like it either, giving it a 38% score on the Popcornmeter. It's safe to say there are far better Westerns people can get into, especially if they don't like the genre.