The release of Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 last week has finally given the Western genre the epic video game that it deserves, and although there wasn’t a ton of hype leading up to it, Rockstar has been doing some interesting stuff to promote it after the fact. For one, they’ve recruited The Proposition director John Hillcoat to direct a short film using the in-game engine that will air on TV this weekend. You can see the half-hour animated machinima film this Saturday, May 29th at midnight on FOX, although I imagine it will turn up online soon afterward.

I’m still not sure if this is actually something worth getting excited about, as it looks like every other cinematic in the game, but I suppose it’s impressive that they got him involved. At the very least, it shows their dedication to capturing an authentic and gritty Western vibe.

In other John Hillcoat news, it was recently announced that his next project might be a “period action/revenge piece” called The Revenant. Christian Bale is supposedly in talks to star, and while it’s not clear if it’s actually a Western, I’m already reminiscing about his solid performance in 3:10 to Yuma. This news comes courtesy of Bloody Disgusting, who talked to writer Mark L. Smith (the same guy doing the Martyrs remake).

Source: Film Junk