How Clint Eastwood’s Bold Script Got Dumped by John Wayne – And Why It Never Worked

Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are two of the most iconic names in Western cinema. Both stars achieved legendary status, crafting careers that defined the genre for decades. Wayne’s remarkable legacy includes over 80 Western hero stories, such as The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), True Grit (1969), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). On the other hand, Eastwood’s rise to fame came through the Dollars Trilogy with Sergio Leone, as well as later classics like Unforgiven (1992) and Cry Macho (2021).

Despite their overlapping stardom, the two never worked together on-screen, leaving fans to wonder why such a pairing never happened. Several theories have circulated over the years, and one such story stands out, involving a failed attempt by Eastwood to collaborate with Wayne on a film.

In the early 1970s, Eastwood had already established himself as both a leading man and a promising director. After his directorial debut with High Plains Drifter (1973), Eastwood sought to take on more ambitious projects. Among them was The Hostiles, a script he had received from writer Larry Cohen. The story, which centered on a gambler and an older rancher forced to work together to fend off bandits, seemed like the perfect opportunity for Eastwood to collaborate with one of the most revered figures in Westerns: John Wayne.

Eastwood, eager to work with Wayne, sent the script to the veteran actor, hoping he would consider playing the role of the older rancher. However, Wayne’s response was less than encouraging. According to Eastwood, Wayne wrote him a letter criticizing High Plains Drifter and explained that the film wasn’t aligned with the traditional Western values Wayne championed. “He said it wasn’t really about the people who pioneered the West,” Eastwood recalled. “I realized that there were two different generations, and he wouldn’t understand what I was doing.”

Undeterred, Eastwood rewrote and revised the Hostiles script, hoping to meet Wayne’s expectations. But when the revised script reached Wayne, the reaction was even more blunt. According to Wayne’s son, Michael Wayne, the elder actor famously threw the script into the sea from the deck of his boat, exclaiming, “This piece of sh** again.” That was the end of the project, with Wayne’s rejection leaving Eastwood to move forward without him.

Wayne’s rejection of the script wasn’t surprising given his well-known stance on the Western genre. His films often presented a clear moral divide, with his heroes serving as paragons of righteousness and justice. In contrast, Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter offered a darker, morally ambiguous view of the West, where the lines between good and evil were often blurred. This shift in tone may have been difficult for Wayne, who believed strongly in portraying the cowboy as a symbol of honor, justice, and resilience.

The failed collaboration between the two Hollywood titans highlights the generational divide in their approaches to storytelling. While both men contributed immensely to Westerns, their differing philosophies and visions for the genre likely prevented them from ever sharing the screen. In the end, it was a missed opportunity for fans of both actors, but it also underscores how their legacies continue to shape the Western genre in distinct ways.