Jane Got a Gun

Jane and her husband Bill "Ham" Hammond live in an isolated house with their five-year-old daughter Katie. One day Ham returns home with several serious bullet wounds. As Jane is tending to his injuries, Ham tells her that the Bishop Boys, a group of criminals that Ham used to ride with, are coming for him.

Ham's injuries have rendered him helpless, so Jane takes her daughter to safety with a woman she trusts. She then rides to the home of a neighbor and former fiance, Dan Frost, and asks him to help her protect her family from the Bishop Boys. Dan, a surly man living in a squalid house, bitterly refuses.

Jane rides into town to buy guns and ammunition and find help. As she is leaving the shop, she is waylaid and dragged into an alley by one of the Bishop gang who threatens her at gunpoint. Jane claims that she hasn't seen Hammond in years, but the man recognizes the gun she is carrying as Ham's and demands that she take him back to her house. However, Dan Frost suddenly appears and tells the thug to leave Jane alone. Jane draws her gun and kills the outlaw.

Leaving the body in the alley, Jane and Dan ride back to her house. Ham is still alive but very weak. Dan has changed his mind about helping Jane, so they start preparing for the expected attack from the Bishop gang.

Bishop sets out with his gang to find Ham. One of his men chances upon Jane's house and recognizes Jane, but Dan kills and buries him before he can raise an alarm. Dan digs a shallow trench in Jane's front yard, and they fill it with jars containing kerosene, nails and pieces of glass.

Flashbacks show that Jane and Dan were once engaged, but he enlisted in the army to fight in the American Civil War. Captured by the enemy, he was held for years in a prison camp, but when he finally returned home, Jane had left. He travelled from state to state trying to find her, showing her photograph in every town. Eventually, he heard that she had moved west on a wagon train led by John Bishop. Dan talked to Bishop, who told him that during the journey Ham and Jane ran off together. He said he would gladly help Dan to track them down, as he had his own scores to settle with Ham, but Dan refused, saying he preferred to ride alone. Dan eventually found Jane, but by then she was married to Ham and they had had a child. Heartbroken, Dan realized that he had lost her forever.

Later Jane tells Dan her side of the story. After Dan left to enlist, she discovered she was pregnant. When Dan did not return or write, she assumed he was dead, and life in Jane's war-torn town had become so wretched that she decided to take her daughter Mary and move West on the Bishop wagon train. Too late, she and the other women on the wagon train realized that Bishop intended to start a brothel, forcing the helpless women into prostitution.

Ham, having taken a fancy to Jane during the wagon train journey, told Bishop that he wanted to marry her. But Bishop told Ham that Jane was his "property". Later, Ham found that Jane and her daughter had gone missing; searching for Mary, he saw a child's boot in the river and assumed the child has drowned. He went to the brothel where Jane had been forced to work, killed some of Bishop's men, rescued her, and told her that Mary was dead.

Back in the present, the Bishop gang finally arrive at Jane's house under cover of darkness and riddle the house with bullets. Dan and Jane fire into the booby-trapped ditch, igniting the kerosene "bombs". Most of the gang are killed, but some – including Bishop himself – escape. Jane and Dan manage to move the dying Ham into a shallow storage space beneath the floor, to protect him from the gunfire, but the strain is too much for him and he dies. Dan and Jane continue to fight it out with the remaining gang members, although both are wounded. Finally, Bishop (the only gang member left alive) manages to corner Dan and is about to kill him, when Jane sneaks up behind Bishop and draws her gun on him. Trying to persuade her not to kill him, Bishop tells Jane that Mary is not dead, as she had thought. Jane shoots him several times, wounding him badly, until in his agony he reveals that Mary is at the brothel. Jane then kills Bishop.

Jane and Dan go to the brothel and find their daughter, Mary, who is working as a servant. Jane takes the bodies of Bishop and his gang to the sheriff and collects a huge reward. Then she, Dan, Mary and Katie ride off together to start a new life as a family.

• Natalie Portman as Jane Hammond
• Joel Edgerton as Dan Frost
• Noah Emmerich as Bill "Ham" Hammond
• Rodrigo Santoro as Fitchum
• Boyd Holbrook as Vic Owen
• Ewan McGregor as John Bishop
• Alex Manette as Buck
• James Burnett as Cunny Charlie
• Sam Quinn as Slow Jeremiah

The original script was written by Brian Duffield. Duffield's script appeared on the 2011 edition of the Black List, an annual survey of the most popular unproduced screenplays by development executives.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2011/12/the-black-list-2011-screenplay-roster-204025/|title=The Black List 2011: Screenplay Roster|author-link=Nikki Finke |last=Finke |first= Nikki |date=12 December 2011|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=12 November 2013}}

In May 2012, it was announced that Natalie Portman would star in the film as the title character Jane Hammond and that Lynne Ramsay would direct.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com//news/natalie-portman-star-western-jane-327747|title=Natalie Portman to Star in Western 'Jane Got a Gun' for Director Lynne Ramsay |last1=Kit |first1= Borys |last2=McClintock |first2= Pamela|date=22 May 2012|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=13 November 2013}} In August 2012, Michael Fassbender was reported as being in talks to play the role of Dan Frost, Jane's ex-lover.{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2012/08/michael-fassbender-may-be-triggerman-in-natalie-portman-jane-got-a-gun.html|title=Michael Fassbender May Be Triggerman on Natalie Portman's Jane Got a Gun|author=Brodesser-Akner, Claude|date=27 August 2012|publisher=vulture.com|access-date=13 November 2013}} In December 2012, Joel Edgerton was cast as John Bishop, the villain of the film.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2012/12/joel-edgerton-in-talks-for-janes-got-a-gun-386748/|title=Joel Edgerton In Talks For 'Jane Got A Gun'|author=Patten, Dominic|date=11 December 2012|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=13 November 2013}} On February 4, 2013, Rodrigo Santoro was announced to have joined the cast, playing a character named Fitchum.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/02/jane-got-a-gun-adds-rodrigo-santoro-421059/|title='Jane Got A Gun' Adds Rodrigo Santoro|author=Patten, Dominic|date=4 February 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=17 November 2013}} On March 11, 2013, it was revealed that Fassbender left the film due to scheduling conflicts with X-Men: Days of Future Past. Ramsay then recast Edgerton in the vacated role of Dan Frost and cast Jude Law in the role of John Bishop.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/michael-fassbender-exits-natalie-portmans-427402|title=Michael Fassbender Exits Natalie Portman's 'Jane Got a Gun'|author=Kit, Borys|date=11 March 2013|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=13 November 2013}} On March 19, 2013, it was announced that Ramsay had left the production.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/03/shocker-jane-got-a-gun-loses-director-lynne-ramsay-on-first-day-of-production-456765/|title=SHOCKER: 'Jane Got A Gun' Loses Director Lynne Ramsay On First Day Of Production|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=19 March 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}} On March 20, Gavin O'Connor was announced as her replacement.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/03/warrior-helmer-gavin-oconnor-rides-to-rescue-on-jane-got-a-gun-457767/|title='Warrior' Helmer Gavin O'Connor Rides To Rescue On 'Jane Got A Gun'|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=20 March 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}} The same day, it was also announced that Law had left the film, for the reason that he had signed on to work with Ramsay.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/03/more-fallout-on-jane-got-a-gun-jude-law-exits-picture-457892/|title=More Fallout On 'Jane Got A Gun:' Jude Law Exits Picture|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=20 March 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}}

Cinematographer Darius Khondji also left the production, and was replaced by Mandy Walker.{{cite web|url=http://www.cinematographer.org.au/cms/newsletter.asp?ID=20961|title=A POSTCARD FROM MANDY WALKER ACS ASC - FROM THE SET OF JANE GOT A GUN IN ISRAEL -|author=Walker, Mandy|publisher=cinematographer.org.au|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-date=March 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309122021/http://cinematographer.org.au/cms/newsletter.asp?ID=20961|url-status=dead}} Edgerton and Anthony Tambakis, co-screenwriter of O'Connor's previous film Warrior, were then hired to rewrite Duffield's script.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/joel-edgerton-felony-exodus-interview/|title=Joel Edgerton Talks FELONY, Ridley Scott's EXODUS, JANE GOT A GUN Production Troubles, His Directorial Debut, and More at TIFF 2013|author=Weintraub, Steve|publisher=collider.com|access-date=21 November 2013}} On April 5, 2013, it was announced that Bradley Cooper would replace Law in the role of John Bishop.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/04/bradley-cooper-replaces-jude-law-jane-got-a-gun-movie-469245/|title='Jane Got A Gun' Has A New Bad Guy; Bradley Cooper Filling Jude Law Role|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=5 April 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}} On April 10, 2013, it was announced that Noah Emmerich had been cast in the final lead role of Bill Hammond, Jane's husband.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/04/noah-emmerich-set-to-play-natalie-portmans-husband-in-jane-got-a-gun-471767/|title=Noah Emmerich Set To Play Natalie Portman's Husband In 'Jane Got A Gun'|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=10 April 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=17 November 2013}} On May 1, 2013, it was announced that Cooper was withdrawing from the film. Cooper revealed that he was leaving because of scheduling conflicts with American Hustle.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/05/bradley-cooper-exits-jane-got-a-gun-488238/|title=Bradley Cooper Confirms Deadline Report: He Has Exited 'Jane Got A Gun'|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=1 May 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}} On May 6, 2013, Ewan McGregor was announced to take over the role of John Bishop from Cooper.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/05/ewan-mcgregor-loads-his-guns-to-take-over-villain-role-in-jane-got-a-gun-491509/|title=Ewan McGregor Loads His Guns To Take Over Villain Role In 'Jane Got A Gun'|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=6 May 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=15 November 2013}} On June 3, 2013, Boyd Holbrook was announced to be playing the younger brother of John Bishop.{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/host-star-boyd-holbrook-joins-jane-got-gun-firms-little-accidents-exclusive-95016|title='The Host' Star Boyd Holbrook Joins 'Jane Got a Gun,' Firms Up 'Little Accidents' (Exclusive)|author=Sneider, Jeff|date=3 June 2013|publisher=TheWrap|access-date=17 November 2013|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184451/https://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/host-star-boyd-holbrook-joins-jane-got-gun-firms-little-accidents-exclusive-95016/|url-status=dead}}

In January 2015, the first images from the film were released online.{{cite web|url=http://www.unanimousentertainment.com/jane-got-a-gun# |title=Jane Got a Gun |publisher=unanimousentertainment.com |access-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109085406/http://www.unanimousentertainment.com/jane-got-a-gun |archive-date=January 9, 2015 }} On October 5, 2015, the first international poster was released.{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-international-poster-for-jane-got-a-gun-starring-natalie-portman-20151005|title=First International Poster For 'Jane Got A Gun' Starring Natalie Portman {{!}} IndieWire|last=Jagernauth|first=Kevin|website=blogs.indiewire.com|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317221221/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-international-poster-for-jane-got-a-gun-starring-natalie-portman-20151005|url-status=dead}} On October 21, 2015 the first international trailer was released.{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=45765 |title=First Trailer For Jane Got A Gun |author=White, James |date=21 October 2015 |publisher=empireonline.com |access-date=24 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022222336/http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=45765 |archive-date=October 22, 2015 }} On December 7, 2015, the second and final international trailer was released.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/jane-got-a-gun-trailer-852535|title='Jane Got a Gun' Trailer 2|author=THR Staff |date=6 January 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=20 January 2016}}

Originally the film was acquired for distribution in the United States at the Marché du Film by Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company, with Relativity handling theatrical distribution and TWC preparing marketing materials; CBS Films and Focus Features were among the studios interested in acquiring the film as well.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/05/cannes-jane-got-a-gun-moving-toward-u-s-deal-with-relativityweinstein-company-508031/|title=CANNES: 'Jane Got A Gun' Moving Toward U.S Deal With Relativity/Weinstein|author=Fleming, Mike Jr.|date=24 May 2013|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=30 November 2013}} The film was originally announced that it would be released on August 29, 2014,{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jane-got-a-gun-gets-659709|title='Jane Got a Gun' Gets Aug. 2014 Release Date |last=Lewis |first= Hilary |date=25 November 2013|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=30 November 2013}} which the studio cancelled on April 10, 2014.{{cite news|last=Ford|first=Rebecca|title=Relativity Moves Back 'Jane Got a Gun,' Dates 'November Man'|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/relativity-pushes-back-jane-got-695238|access-date=11 April 2014|newspaper=hollywoodreporter.com|date=10 April 2014}} On April 24, 2014, the studio set a release date for February 20, 2015 for the film, which was later moved back to September 4.{{cite news|title=Relativity Drawing 'Jane Got A Gun' In February|url=https://deadline.com/2014/04/jane-got-a-gun-release-date-february-20-natalie-portman-719591/|access-date=25 April 2014|newspaper=Deadline Hollywood|date=24 April 2014}}{{cite news|title=Natalie Portman's 'Jane Got a Gun' Delayed Again|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/natalie-portmans-jane-got-a-gun-delayed-again-1201370129/|access-date=3 December 2014|newspaper=Variety|date=3 December 2014}} In July 2015, Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; the film's producers barely managed to take back rights to the film prior to the filing.{{cite web|last=Fleming |first=Mike |url=https://deadline.com/2015/07/jane-got-a-gun-exits-relativity-media-david-boies-1201486919/ |title='Jane Got A Gun' Gets A Break: Film Shakes Loose From Relativity |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=2015-07-30}} The Weinstein Company then re-acquired distribution rights in September that year. However, the film was then scheduled for a release sometime in February 2016, diminishing its makers' hopes for an awards-qualifying run. TWC nevertheless made efforts to heavily market the film for its European release in November 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/relativitys-jane-got-a-gun-823959|title=Relativity's 'Jane Got a Gun' Picked Up by Weinstein Co. (Exclusive) |last=Siegel |first= Tatiana |date=16 September 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=17 October 2015}} Ultimately, the film was released in the United States on January 29, 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movie/jane-got-a-gun-2016|title=Jane Got a Gun|work=ComingSoon.net|access-date=December 5, 2015|archive-date=July 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718152032/https://www.comingsoon.net/movie/jane-got-a-gun-2016|url-status=dead}}

Jane Got a Gun was a box office bomb. It grossed $1.5 million in the United States and Canada and $2.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $3.8 million, plus $1.8 million with home video sales, against a production budget of $25 million. The film was released in North America on January 29, 2016, with a projected opening weekend gross around $1 million from 1,210 theaters.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/01/kung-fu-panda-3-finest-hours-fifty-shade-of-black-jane-got-a-gun-box-office-preview-1201691337/ |title='Kung Fu Panda 3' Will Dig Box Office Out Of The Snow With $40M+ Opening – Preview |work=Deadline Hollywood}} However, the film only grossed $865,572 with a per theater average of $691.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/weekend-box-office-kung-fu-panda-3-finest-hours-fifty-shades-of-black-1201692571/|title='Kung Fu Panda 3' Gets Leg Up On Fierce 1st Quarter & Scores Record January Toon Opening – Monday B.O. Postmortem|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|date=February 1, 2016|access-date=February 4, 2016}} It is the worst wide release opening for The Weinstein Company.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/box-office-kung-fu-panda-3-takes-top-spot-jane-got-a-gun-posts-worst-weinstein-company-wide-release-opening-ever-20160131|title=Box Office: 'Kung Fu Panda 3' Takes Top Spot, 'Jane Got A Gun' Posts Worst Weinstein Company Wide Release Opening Ever|publisher=Indiewire.com|first=Kevin|last=Jaugernauth|date=January 31, 2016|access-date=February 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203010204/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/box-office-kung-fu-panda-3-takes-top-spot-jane-got-a-gun-posts-worst-weinstein-company-wide-release-opening-ever-20160131|archive-date=February 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 43%, based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 5.22/10. The site's consensus reads: "Jane Got a Gun flounders between campy Western and hard-hitting revisionist take on the genre, leaving Natalie Portman's committed performance stranded in the dust."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jane_got_a_gun/ |title=Jane Got a Gun (2016) |website=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango |access-date=May 27, 2020 }} On Metacritic the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jane-got-a-gun |title=Jane Got a Gun Reviews |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=April 24, 2016}}

Joe Leydon of Variety called the film "a solidly-made and conventionally-satisfying Western," and wrote: "For those who have perused the countless accounts of last-minute cast changes, musical directors' chairs and repeatedly-delayed release dates, it may be difficult to objectively judge what actually appears on screen here without being distracted by thoughts of what could have been, or should have been."{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/jane-got-a-gun-film-review-1201692416/|title=Film Review: 'Jane Got a Gun'|work=Variety|first=Joe|last=Leydon|date=January 29, 2016|access-date=April 1, 2016}} Michael Rechtshaffen of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Jane Got A Gun may not have reinvented the wagon wheel, but it rolls out as a sturdy, well-crafted genre piece despite its rocky road to the screen."{{cite web |date=30 January 2016 |title=Review: This 'Jane's' a straight shooter, despite checkered past |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-jane-got-gun-review-20160129-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times }}

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Filming on location in New Mexico, O'Connor and his team make strong use of the stark and sometimes-breathtaking exteriors, even if the drama is often confined to the Hammond homestead. Other tech contributions are solid, though this is a film whose production history may ultimately prove more memorable than what's been produced: In Jane Got a Gun, the real bullets were the ones fired behind the camera." Mintzer also said: "A handful of plot twists are not enough to compensate for an overtly heavy, often dreary affair that rides straight into the final standoff with little elegance and a wagon train of pathos."{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/jane-got-a-gun-film-859290 |title='Jane Got a Gun': Film Review |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Jordan |last=Mintzer |date=January 26, 2016 |access-date=April 1, 2020 }} Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Since the film's last-minute rewrites, casting switcheroos, and musical chairs behind the camera are irrelevant to the actual quality of the movie, I'll avoid rehashing them here, save to say that the disarray shows on screen."{{cite web |date=2016 |title='Jane Got a Gun': EW review |url=https://ew.com/article/2016/01/29/jane-got-a-gun-review/ |website=Entertainment Weekly }}

• {{Section link|Second weekend in box office performance|Second-weekend drop}}

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Category:2015 films

Category:2015 Western (genre) films

Category:American Western (genre) films

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Gavin O'Connor

Category:Films produced by Natalie Portman

Category:Films set in the American frontier

Category:Films shot in Israel

Category:Films shot in New Mexico

Category:Girls with guns films

Category:Relativity Media films

Category:Films with screenplays by Brian Duffield

Category:Films with screenplays by Joel Edgerton

Category:Films produced by Zack Schiller

Category:2010s American films

Category:Films scored by Lisa Gerrard

Category:English-language Western (genre) films