I've made no secret about Western being my favourite genre. I feel that, like Science Fiction, it's a genre that enables a writer to tell any story they want. And because of the extreme nature of the environment in both of those genres, story must become focused on character and because of that, they can be (when they don't become too caught up in the trappings of the genre) immensely human periods.
Problem is, unlike sci-fi, westerns aren't popular outside of North America. In fact, the western has been called the only exclusively American genre. So, despite a number of fantastic westerns made over the last ten years, they under perform and studios aren't keen to give money over to a project that won't have international appeal (the failure of the Lone Ranger will probably halt any productions on non-independent westerns for the foreseeable future). Happily, Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways To Die In The West was already too far along for the studio to pull the plug. And, the surprising success of Ted gives MacFarlane a little leeway in terms of output.
I'm excited for Million Ways. I like MacFarlane's comedy for the most part, which when working at maximum efficiency can be nearly as smart and as crude as Archer. It's only when it devolves into simple vulgarity (or when it becomes too self referential) that it looses me. The studio has released a series of character posters, and they showcase pretty succinctly the balance that MacFarlane strikes in his humour. They are simple and packed in innuendo. Sure, I would have liked them even more if they had designed them to look like actual old timey posters from the old west, and less of the 40 Year Old Virgin design everyone has run into the ground the last decade or so. But unless the trailer is an absolute mess, this film is going to sit pretty high on my most anticipated list for this year (and this year, that's a short list).
Hit the jump to see the various character posters, which also showcase one of the strongest comedy casts I've seen in a long time.
Via Collider.