Actor Clint Eastwood helped make the Dirty Harry franchise one of the most iconic series of action films in cinema. But at one point Eastwood was looking for another action franchise to own.
Clint Eastwood wanted another ‘Dirty Harry’ franchise that he had more ownership of
Eastwood’s Dirty Harry series only helped further the actor’s legacy back in the day. But initially, he hoped to have another separate franchise as equally lucrative under his belt with a similar personality to Dirty Harry. In an attempt to replicate the film’s success, Eastwood allegedly went to famous writer Elmore Leonard for help. Apart from his novels, Leonard was also known for penning movies. He wrote features like Charles Bronson’s Mr. Majestyk, which was initially pitched to Eastwood. It was also inspired by his own book The Big Bounce.
“I took Mr. Majestyk from The Big Bounce and named the character, it’s a different guy completely, y’know. But I figured, I need a title, and I know Mr. Majestyk is a good title, and I figured, well, nobody’s read The Big Bounce. I’ll just use that name. Originally, this story was meant for Clint Eastwood. He had called up and said he wanted something new,” Leonard once said in a resurfaced interview with Anthony May.
Leonard asserted that he’d already written the movie Joe Kidd for Eastwood. The Oscar-winner must’ve been very fond of the feature, as the actor trusted Leonard to create another Dirty Harry for him. The author theorized that Eastwood wanted to headline a property that he received more of the profits of.
“And he called up and said, Dirty Harry is making a lot of money everywhere, but he only had a few points in it, I gathered. Now he wanted to own his next property. What he wanted really was another Dirty Harry but different,” Leonard added.
Mr. Majestyk was supposed to be Eastwood’s new Dirty Harry, but he and Leonard couldn’t seem to agree on the film’s premise.
What Clint Eastwood felt about another ‘Dirty Harry’ film
Eastwood stuck with the Dirty Harry franchise for five movies, and the titular character quickly became a pop culture icon. Ironically, other actors were offered the role aside from Eastwood, but they turned down the project due to its subject matter. But Eastwood was too engrossed by the character to let any potential controversies turn him away from.
“I was told when I first got the script that other actors had liked it but had reservations about the political elements of it. But even at that age, I was not afraid of it. To me, it was an exciting detective story. It was a fantasy. Here’s a guy who is so dogmatic that nothing is going to stop him when his mind is made up,” Eastwood once told MTV News.
Because of the character’s iconography, Eastwood was frequently asked about the possibility of returning to the franchise for one last ride. As unlikely as it was, he didn’t completely rule out the idea.
“There could be a scenario,” Eastwood said. “I suppose if some mythical writer came out of nowhere and it was the greatest thing on the planet, I’d certainly have to think about it, but it’s not like I’ve ever courted it. I feel like that was an era of my life, and I’ve gone on to other things. I’m not sure about being Dirty Harry again, but who knows?”
The 1 major blockbuster star who was rumored to star in a ‘Dirty Harry’ film
Eastwood may have been done with the franchise, but there were rumors decades ago of a Dirty Harry reboot. The alleged project would’ve followed Eastwood’s familiar character in his younger years. Dark Horizons (via Filmz) reported that Dwayne Johnson was tapped to play the role. This might’ve been a dream for Johnson at the time, who would’ve been directly inheriting a character from one of his idols.
If the reports were true, the feature would never come to fruition. Instead, Johnson found himself reinvigorating another popular action series in the Fast and Furious franchise.