References to the film adaptation of Brautigan's The Hawkline Monster

From Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times by Dennis McDougal:

Through all of these debacles, Jack's star remained aloft. Ashby? attempted to cast him opposite Clint Eastwood? in a screen adaptation of the novelist Richard Brautigan's "gothic Western" The Hawkline Monster and Michael Douglas offered him the Jack Lemmon role in The China Syndrome (1979). But as Kubrick's The Shining marathon ground to a close, Jack remained noncommittal about his next project, much to the annoyance of those who clamored after him. (p. 228)

From Tim Burton: A Child's Garden of Nightmares by Paul A. Woods

Another project Gems? worked on for Burton? was am adaptation of Richard Brautigan's novel The Hawkline Monster, about a couple of Old West gunslingers who are preparing to retire and decide to do one last job. 'Basically, they're hired by these twin sisters who want them to kill a monster that lives in their basement,' explains Gems. 'The two cowboys realize they've had to kill desperadoes and all kinds of other people over the years, and even though they've never had to kill a monster before, they figure they can handle it.'

The Hawkline Monster came very close to being made by Burton when Clint Eastwood? and Jack Nicholson both agreed to star in it, but eventually it fell apart when Eastwood bowed out to do another film. 'Everybody was very excited and deals were being made, but when Clint decided to leave Jack didn't want to do it, because working with Clint was what appealed to him in the first place,' says Gems, who notes that the film could eventually happen with different actors and another director. (p. 130)

The Hawkline Monster (Warner Bros.)
Written by Jonathan Gems for Tim Burton in 1993, based on the novel by Richard Brautigan. Producer: Monty Montgomery.

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