LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) — Emilio Estevez said he still hopes to reprise the role of Billy the Kid in a third Young Guns movie, but perhaps a fourth and fifth too. Estevez is now 60 and said there is enough historical evidence to inspire more than just Guns 3, the title listed on IMDb.
“This guy is a really fascinating character in history and I think that there’s an opportunity to not only make Part 3 but Part 4 and Part 5,” Estevez told UPI in a phone interview promoting the re-release of The Way.
Estevez said new forensic evidence suggests William Bonney was not shot and killed by Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in 1881. Young Guns 2 addressed the question with an elderly man (Estevez) claiming to be Bily the Kid.
If Bonney lived, Estevez said, he may have had adventures in several historical events. Estevez compared the newly uncovered stories of Billy the Kid to Woody Allen’s Zelig character who blended into historical events.
“He fought at the battle of San Juan Hill alongside Teddy Roosevelt and with the Rough Riders,” Estevez said. “He was with Pancho Villa in Mexico fighting in the Cattle of Ciudad Juarez in the Mexican Revolution and on and on and on.
“There’s even evidence that’s being uncovered that he was a lawman for a while in the ’30s,” Estevez continued, adding “that he in fact lived on and sought the pardon that was promised to him by governor Lew Wallace and died before that was ever granted in 1950.”
Estevez said he imagined a series of Guns films, by the end of which he could hand the role off to his father, Martin Sheen.
“Take him all the way to 1950 and then hand it off to my dad and then I don’t have to wear the old man makeup,” Estevez said. “Sorry, dad.”
The rights to the Young Guns franchise are complicated, Estevez said. Morgan Creek produced the first two films, with 20th Century Fox distributing the first and Warner Bros. the second.
Now that Estevez is a director, he may also direct the Guns sequels. However, he has other sequels he wants to make first, including a sequel to The Way starring his father.
“It really depends on what’s going on in my professional life,” Estevez said. “Martin’s going to be 83 this year and I think the timing might be right to get that one in the can before we start talking about Young Guns 3.”
The Way returns to theaters May 16 and UPI will have the full interview with Estevez ahead of that rerelease.
