The Horseman pairs Sutherland with Barry Pepper for Scripps Networks film
Summary
– Kiefer Sutherland and Barry Pepper will star in the Western feature The Horseman
– The film is currently shooting in Canada and is planned for an early 2027 release
– Pepper co-wrote the project and plays a grieving man trying to reunite with his horse
Kiefer Sutherland is heading into Western territory for a new showdown with Barry Pepper.
The Horseman is a feature-length Western from Nomadic Pictures, planned for an early 2027 release across Scripps Networks. Grit is expected to be one of the film’s key platforms.
Rod Lurie is directing the project, which was developed and co-written by Pepper and Ed Gass-Donnelly. The story is set in the late-1800s West, a period marked by America’s growing demand for illumination and the rise of the oil rush.
Pepper stars as The Man, a grieving husband and father who loses his family and forms a deep bond with a young colt. When the two are separated, he is forced to take desperate action to reunite with the only family he has left.
Sutherland plays the film’s main villain. His character is described as an aristocrat obsessed with proving his superiority through intelligence, money, and violence.
The cast also includes C. Thomas Howell, Tzi Ma, and Ryan Michelle Bathe. The film is currently shooting in Canada.
The Horseman is produced in association with Nomadic Pictures, Peace River Pictures, and Scripps Networks. Nomadic Pictures holds global distribution rights, while Scripps has U.S. rights.
Pepper said the Westerns he grew up watching helped shape the project. He pointed to classics like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Unforgiven as part of the foundation for the film’s tone.
“The nostalgic Westerns of my youth — The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and later Unforgiven — were straightforward stories with lean dialogue, often featuring mysterious drifters with no name.”
Pepper also said the idea for The Horseman came together while filming True Grit, where he saw how sensitive and intuitive horses could be around people.
“The story for The Horseman crystallized during the filming of True Grit, where I witnessed firsthand the extraordinary intuitive and sensitive nature of horses — how they react to the smallest movement, sense your tension, your heartbeat, the turn of your head, the shift of your hips.”
Scripps executive Adam Harman said the film fits the audience that Grit has built around Western storytelling. He believes the cast, director, and Pepper’s vision give the project the ingredients to become a modern Western favorite.
Lurie also praised Pepper’s screenplay, calling it both a classical Western and an emotional story about grief. With Sutherland stepping into the villain role, The Horseman now has a strong centerpiece conflict for Western fans to watch.
