That romanticized image of Bonnie and Clyde as folk hero outlaws and lovers is being stripped away in “The Highwaymen,” a new film starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as the two Texas Rangers who made it their mission to hunt the famous outlaws.
Because while there’s some humor in this first trailer for the film, Bonnie and Clyde come across as ruthless killers, the type who turn you over on your back to look you in the eyes before they shoot you. But still the legend of their romance and their bloody end persists.
“We’re the bad guys,” Costner says in the trailer, channeling an Eliot Ness in “The Untouchables” vibe. His character, Frank Hamer, was portrayed by Denver Pyle in the classic 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde” starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.
John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”) directed the new film that also stars Kathy Bates as the governor and Kim Dickens and John Carroll Lynch. John Fusco (“Young Guns”) wrote the screenplay, and Casey Silver is the producer.
“The Highwaymen” is premiering at the SXSW Film Festival this March, followed by some limited theatrical engagements beginning March 15, and finally it launches on Netflix on March 29.
Watch the first trailer above.