File this one under ‘Long Overdue Update”: For our readers that keep abreast of the latest in pop culture happenings out there in the wilds of Hollywood, you might recall that a few years back we ran an article touting a sequel to the 1990 western classic Young Guns II. Frankly, no one was perhaps more excited about the potential continuation of the saga about Billy the Kid (a rarely-better Emilio Estevez) and his disparate band of Regulators (populated by the likes of such former Young Hollywood royalty as Christian Slater, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey  Siemaszko, Balthazar Getty and Alan Ruck) than this tin-eared yellow journalist. One of my fondest memories of being a teenager was heading down to the local Syracuse, NY multiplex and catching a matinee showing of Young Guns II (directed by Geoff Murphy for all of you Trivial Pursuit enthusiasts out there) on opening day (yep, I’m old) with my mother and sister. By then I’d already been indoctrinated into the lore of outlaw William H. Bonney courtesy of director Christopher Cain’s first Guns outing and had proceeded from there to read every blessed thing I could lay my grubby mitts on about the infamous New Mexico bandit. So even though the second film in the saga had ended things on what I felt was a pretty satisfactory note, I wasn’t one of those purists vehemently opposed to further Young Guns movies. My theory is if you can find a story beyond that first or second film, why not at least entertain the possibility?

 We ran a follow-up article or two on this proposed sequel which was by that point going under the working title of Guns III: Alias Billy the Kid (a great title, by the way), updating as it became public that both Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian slater would be joining Estevez for one last ride upon the open prairie. Tantalizingly enough to us hardcore fans of the series, Estevez had been announced by that point as not only starring in this new entry, but also as serving as its director. If that wasn’t enough to whet the proverbial appetite, original Guns scribe John Fusco would be returning to the fold to write the third film alongside Estevez. So a lot to be excited about and things seemed to be going full-steam ahead…until, suddenly, it wasn’t.

After an excruciating lull regarding news about Guns III: Alias Billy the Kid, our good friends over at Movieweb got the draw on us scoop-wise about just what the status on the continuing adventures of Billy the Kid was exactly.

In an interview, Emilio Estevez gave some glimmer of hope to Young Guns faithfuls that the production of a sequel was not dead.

“There is a potential for Young Guns 3,” Estevez declared. “We’ve been obviously dropping the word “Young,” and we’ve been talking about that. And again, that’s been a bit of a copyright, uh, rights nightmare. But I think we’ve finally figured out a way to make that happen with whomever is still alive. And what I mean by that, the characters, not the actual actors, but, there’s a strong, um, obviously westerns are back in fashion. And certainly this is a piece of IP that needs to be reexamined. And I don’t know how well you remember part two, but I played a character named Brushy Bill Roberts, which who claimed in real life to be the actual Billy of the Kid in 1950, and said that he was not killed by Pat Garrett in 1881.That he was, that he went on to actually have a very Forrest Gump type life. He was, you know, he rode with Teddy Roosevelt with the Rough Riders and sat and was at the Battle of San Juan Hill. He was with Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution and fought alongside him. There was, uh, evidence that Arkansas’ Dave Rudabaugh was not killed, that he fought alongside Billy in that Mexican revolution. So here’s a guy that we can follow, not across, just, you know, one more movie, but actually there could be a part three, a part four, a part five, take him all the way to 1950.”

Young Guns III- V? After a long drought of no information at all on this long-gestating production, this comes as a veritable watershed of good tidings.

Stay tuned for any and all updates on Guns III: Alias Billy the Kid – Hopefully there will be more to report on sooner rather than later!

Emilio Estevez has teased a possible way for the Young Guns franchise to make a comeback with not only a third movie but potentially several new entries. Estevez appeared in Young Guns back in 1988 and returned for the sequel two years later. While the movies were not well received by critics, they did deliver success at the box office and Estevez feels that it could be time to revisit the Wild West again. Speaking on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Estevez said:

“There is a potential for “Young Guns 3”. We’ve been obviously dropping the word “Young,” and we’ve been talking about that. And again, that’s been a bit of a copyright, uh, rights nightmare. But I think we’ve finally figured out a way to make that happen with whomever is still alive. And what I mean by that, the characters, not the actual actors, but, there’s a strong, um, obviously westerns are back in fashion. And certainly this is a piece of IP that needs to be reexamined. And I don’t know how well you remember part two, but I played a character named Brushy Bill Roberts, which who claimed in real life to be the actual Billy of the Kid in 1950, and said that he was not killed by Pat Garrett in 1881.That he was, that he went on to actually have a very Forrest Gump type life. He was, you know, he rode with Teddy Roosevelt with the Rough Riders and sat and was at the Battle of San Juan Hill. He was with Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution and fought alongside him. There was, uh, evidence that Arkansas’ Dave Rudabaugh was not killed, that he fought alongside Billy in that Mexican revolution. So here’s a guy that we can follow, not across, just, you know, one more movie, but actually there could be a part three, a part four, a part five, take him all the way to 1950.”