David Farnor | On 23, Nov 2017

One of Netflix’s greatest inventions is perhaps the “Skip Intro” button, which lets you quickly progress to the next episode in your binge-viewing marathon, without anything getting in your way. But every now and then, along comes a TV opening credits sequence that is simply too pretty to fast-forward. Godless has one of them.

Designed by Method Studios, executive produced by Angela Lupo with Jonn Likens as Creative Director, the titles are a gorgeous montage of all the Western tropes you expect from the genre – but spun in a new way, as they unfold, almost like a pop-up book, as a light flies across them, seeking out hidden streets in a dusty town and shadowy cracks in a violin. Snakes, dust, guns, and accompanied by Carlos Rafael Rivera’s note-perfect hat-tip to Westerns gone by, it’s a gorgeous piece of work that is worth taking 60 seconds out of your binge-viewing time for – every time.

Not yet tried Godless? You can read our review of Scott Frank’s seven-part Western here. In the meantime, here’s the opening title sequence:

 

Netflix’s Godless gets a new trailer

25th October 2017

Who run the world? Girls is the answer in Netflix’s Godless, which finally arrives next month.

The Western miniseries follows the fates of Frank Griffin and his murderous gang… of Roy Goode, the member who turned against them… and of La Belle, the town full of women who must defend themselves when they get caught in the crossfire.

The seven-part epic from Scott Frank and Steven Soderbergh stars Jeff Daniels, Jack O’Connell, Michelle Dockery, Merritt Wever, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Scoot McNairy and Kim Coates. The whole series premieres on Netflix on Friday 22nd November.

Here’s the new trailer:

 

Netflix unveils first trailer for Godless

16th October 2017

Welcome to No Man’s Land. That’s the ultimatum facing Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) and his gang of outlaws in Netflix’s Godless – and we’ve got a new trailer to give us a taste of its consequences.

The Western series sees the notorious criminal on a mission of revenge against Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), a son-like protégé who betrayed the brotherhood. While on the run, Roy seeks refuge with hardened widower Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery), an outcast herself, in a worn-down, isolated mining town of La Belle, NM — governed mainly by women. When word reaches La Belle that Griffin is headed their way, the town bands together to defend against the murderous gang in a lawless western frontier.

The cast includes Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie, The Walking Dead), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Game of Thrones, Love Actually), Jeremy Bobb (The Knick), Scoot McNairy (Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice), Sam Waterston (Law & Order) and Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy).

The seven-part epic from Scott Frank and Steven Soderbergh premieres on Netflix on 22nd November. Here’s the new trailer:

 

First look: Jeff Daniels and Jack O’Connell in Netflix’s Godless

23rd August 2016

This November, Jeff Daniels and Jack O’Connell star in a new western from Netflix – and now, we have our first look at the Godless no man’s land they will explore.

The seven-part epic western is created by Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter and director Scott Frank, with Academy Award-winner Steven Soderbergh and Casey Silver on board as executive producer.

It follows notorious criminal Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) and his gang of outlaws, who are on a mission of revenge against Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), a son-like protégé who betrayed the brotherhood. While on the run, Roy seeks refuge with hardened widower Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery), an outcast herself, in a worn-down, isolated mining town of La Belle, NM – governed mainly by women. When word reaches La Belle that Griffin is headed their way, the town bands together to defend against the murderous gang in a lawless western frontier.

The series will premiere on Netflix on 22nd November. Read on for the first images of the star-studded cast in action.

[doptg id=”70″]

 

Scoot McNairy signs on to Netflix’s Godless

7th September 2016

Netflix’s Godless has found itself a sheriff: Scoot McNairy.

The actor, Who can currently be seen in Halt and Catch Fire on Amazon Prime Video, will mosey on down to Santa Fe to join the cast of Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank’s Western series.

The six-part story centres on Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), a menacing outlaw who is terrorising the West, as he hunts down Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), his son-like partner turned mortal enemy. While Roy hides at Alice Fletcher’s (Michelle Dockery) ranch, Frank’s chase leads him to the quiet town of La Belle, N.M. — which is mysteriously made up of entirely women.

McNairy will play the role of Bill McNue, the ageing sheriff of La Belle. Deadline reports that he is one of several new additions to the ensemble, including Sam Waterston (Law & Order) as Marshal John Cook, “the law in Santa Fe”, who is on the hunt for Griffin, Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) as Ed Logan, an “arrogant and abrasive company man who comes into La Belle”, Audrey Moore (Better Call Saul) as Sarah Doyle, “a randy woman in her 30s dying for a man’s company”, Christiane Seidel (Boardwalk Empire) as Martha, a “mysterious German woman” (our new favourite character description), Randy Oglesby (Independence Day) as Asa Leopold, who runs the dry goods store in La Belle, where he is one of their few male residents, Justin Welborn (Justified) as Floyd Wilson, one of Griffin’s gaang, and Christopher Fitzgerald (Young Frankenstein) as J.J. Valentine, the “smooth talking president” of the Quicksilver Mining Company looking to take over La Belle’s mine.

Steven Soderbergh, Scott Frank and Casey Silver are executive producers on the mini-series, with Frank serving as both writer and director on the project.

Production is underway now in Santa Fe, with a release date set for 2017.

Michelle Dockery joins cast of Netflix’s Godless

26th July 2016

Netflix has cast Michelle Dockery as the female lead in its Western mini-series, Godless.

The story centers on Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), a menacing outlaw who is terrorising the West, as he hunts down Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), his son-like partner turned mortal enemy. While Roy hides at Alice Fletcher’s (Michelle Dockery) ranch, Frank’s chase leads him to the quiet town of La Belle, N.M. — which is mysteriously made up of entirely women.

Steven Soderbergh, Scott Frank and Casey Silver are executive producers, and Frank serves as both writer and director on the project.

Dockery was nominated for a Golden Globe and two Emmys for her performance as Lady Mary on the international hit series, Downton Abbey, which was just nominated for 10 Emmys for its final season. She just completed shooting the lead role on the TNT series Good Behavior, which will premiere later this fall.

Dockery stars next in Ritesh Batra’s (The Lunchbox) film The Sense of an Ending with Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling. Additional film credits include Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, Self/Less, Anna Karenina and Hanna with Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett.

Godless will premiere worldwide on Netflix in 2017.

Whitney Able and Samantha Soule join Netflix’s Godless

22nd June 2016
Netflix’s period Western, Godless, continues to build its cast list with the addition of Whitney Able and Samanta Soule.

Able, who was last seen in Ava’s Possessions, will play Anna McNue in the limited series. Soule, who has appeared in both The Blacklist and Nurse Jackie, will play Charlotte Temple, a “nervous and put-together woman always in her Sunday best”, reports Deadline.

They join an ensemble led by Jack O’Connell as Roy, a man on the run from Frank, an outlaw who is terrorising the west and his former boss.

The 19th-century set series is written, directed and exec produced by Scott Frank, who is reunited on the project with fellow exec producer Steven Soderbergh, with whom he made Out of Sight.

Jeff Daniels and Scoot McNairy in talks for Netflix’s Godless

28th May 2016

Jeff Daniels and Scott McNairy are in talks for Netflix’s Godless.

The period Western stars Jack O’Connell as Roy, a man on the run from Frank, an outlaw who is terrorising the west and his former boss. The show is written, directed and exec produced by Scott Frank, who is reunited on the project with fellow exec producer Steven Soderbergh, with whom he made Out of Sight.

Should the two actors’ negotiations result in official contracts, it would also reunite Frank with Daniels, who previously worked on the director’s feature debut, 2007 thriller The Lookout.

The series will film in Santa Fe, New Mexico, reports Deadline.

Jack O’Connell joins Netflix’s Western series Godless

11th May 2016

Jack O’Connell has signed on to star in Netflix’s Western series, Godless.

The show, which reunites Out of Sight’s Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank, is a limited series set in the 1880s that follows Frank Griffin, an outlaw who is terrorising the West. His mission? Hunt down Roy Goode, his former progeny, now mortal enemy.

O’Connell will play Roy, on the run from his former boss, after Griffin took him in at a young age – only for Roy to grow sick of Griffin’s behaviour, leading him to make off with the loot from a robbery. He ends up in La Belle, a quiet town mysterious made up only of women.

The Hollywood Reporter first announced O’Connell’s casting, which marks the actor’s first TV role since he played James Cook in Skins. In recent years, Jack has gone to impress on the big screen time and time again, with excellent roles in both Starred Up and ’71 (pictured above), as well as a star-making lead role in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken.

O’Connell was previously linked to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which was being produced by Amazon Studios and would have made the actor one of the few people to have starred in projects for both VOD giants. Now, though, O’Connell has been replaced by Adam Driver in Terry Gilliam’s film, with Amazon potentially no longer involved in funding the project.

Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank reunite for Netflix series

2nd March 2016

Out of Sight fans will be excited by news of Netflix’s latest new project: Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank are getting back together to make a TV show. 18 years after the big-screen Elmore Leonard adaptation, the pair will make a jump to the small screen for the show Godless.

No casting has been announced for the project yet, but The Hollywood Reporter reports the programme as a “Western set in 1884”, with Soderbergh, Frank and Casey Silver all exec producing. Frank will write and direct the one-hour series, which will shoot in Santa Fe.

The show will be a limited, rather than a full, series, which sets the production apart from Netflix’s other new (i.e. non-revival) projects, as the streaming giant tends towards more open-ended shows that can be renewed for multiple seasons.

Soderbergh, though, is no stranger to the world of shorter shows, with his TV portfolio growing bigger by the year: Godless joins Amazon’s Red Oaks and Cinemax’s The Knick on his recent to-do list.

Add to Watchlist