Timothy Olyphant star of FX Network's Justified, has been cast in the new horror western movie Bone Tomahawk. Olyphant is familiar with both genres. He was the star of The Crazies the 2010 remake of George Romero's movie of the same name. Olyphant also starred as Sheriff Seth Bullock in HBO's Deadwood as well as his current role as modern day gunslinger Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified.

The script is by S. Craig Zahler, novelist, screenwriter and cinematographer. Zahler's first novel "A Congregation of Jackals" was nominated for two major awards in Western fiction, The Spur and The Peacemaker. Zahler is also set to direct Bone Tomahawk. It will be his directorial debut.

The film follows an outlaw who unwittingly leads a band of cannibalistic Trogloydytes into the small western town of Bright Hope. All hell breaks loose when the cannibals kidnap several of the townsfolk.

By all accounts the movie will be gruesomely violent but character driven. After the people from town are kidnapped a small band of rescuers venture into hell to attempt to rescue them.

The rescue group includes the town sheriff, Franklin Hunt, played by Kurt Russell. Russell is also no stranger to the horror genre having starred in such movies as The Thing and Grindhouse Death Proof. Russell has also donned the cowboy hat, playing Wyatt Earp in Tombstone.

Richard Jenkins plays an old timer with a fading mind. Jenkins has appeared in movies such as Jack Reacher and The Cabin in the Woods.

Peter Sarsgaard plays Arthur O'Dwyer, a cowboy who joins the rescue group. Sarsgaard is also a veteran of horror movies having appeared in Orphan and The Skeleton Key.

One of the settlers carried off by the monsters is Jennifer Carpenter who plays Samantha O'Dwyer. Carpenter is perhaps best know for her role on Dexter as Debra Morgan as well as the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

The last member of the rescue party is gunslinger, John Brooder, played by Timothy Olyphant. Olyphant should be the perfect fit for the part after playing quick draw Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified.

The horror western has been obtained and it has been pre-sold to Magnolia for U.S. distribution. Producers are Dallas Sonnier, Clay Floren, Jack Heller and Aimee Shieh.

Filming is scheduled to begin in August, 2013 in Utah. The movie is targeting a 2014 release.

Given the great ensemble cast, it sounds like Bone Tomahawk is going to be a great thrill ride of a movie!