Catherine Hardwicke has signed on to direct "American River," a female-led Western set up at Bronte Studios, the company announced Wednesday. The project marks a return to the frontier for Hardwicke, whose 2011 revisionist vampire Western "Red Riding Hood" reimagined classic genre tropes through a distinctly female lens.
Bronte Studios is keeping plot details under wraps, and no casting has been announced. The film's title evokes the rugged, water-adjacent landscapes that have long served as backdrop for the Western genre, though the studio declined to specify a setting or time period.
Hardwicke first broke through with 2003's "Thirteen," a raw portrait of adolescent rebellion that earned Holly Hunter an Oscar nomination. Two years later she directed "Lords of Dogtown," and in 2008 she launched the "Twilight" franchise, which went on to gross over $3 billion worldwide across five films. Her recent work includes the 2019 thriller "Miss Bala" and episodes of television series including "The Alienist" and "The Rookie."
The filmmaker has consistently gravitated toward stories about young women navigating hostile environments, a sensibility that would seem to align naturally with a Western centered on a female protagonist. Bronte Studios, a relative newcomer to the production landscape, has positioned itself as a home for character-driven genre fare. The company has not yet announced a production start date or distribution plans for "American River."
The Western has seen something of a resurgence in recent years, with filmmakers across the industry revisiting and subverting the genre's conventions. Female-led entries remain comparatively rare, though the success of projects like "The Power of the Dog" and "Killers of the Flower Moon" has demonstrated appetite for Westerns that center perspectives historically relegated to the margins of the form.
Hardwicke is repped by CAA and attorney Gretchen Rush. Bronte Studios did not respond to a request for additional comment by press time.
A Note on This Story
Readers searching for information about "American River" may encounter a separate 2021 documentary of the same name, directed by Scott Morris. That film, which runs 86 minutes and was released on October 23, 2021, follows Mary Bruno on a four-day kayak journey down the Passaic River in New Jersey, exploring her childhood fear of the polluted waterway and her return to it decades later. The documentary also features Carl Alderson and is entirely unrelated to the Bronte Studios Western project announced today. The 2021 documentary carries a 0/10 rating on TMDb with limited audience data.
The shared title is coincidental. The Western, which remains in development, has no connection to the Passaic River or to the documentary's subject matter. As of now, no release window has been set for the scripted feature.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter