Robert Downey Jr. takes aim at ‘Cowboys and Aliens’

Robert Downey Jr. is in negotiations to star in ‘Cowboys and Aliens,’ a pulp like film about a traditional Wild West battle that gets interrupted by a spaceship from outer space, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The DreamWorks/Universal Pictures collaboration, to be produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, has been in development at several studios over the past ten years.

The story derives from a graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley. “Cowboys & Aliens” is a cowboys and Indians tale,  that get’s turned upside down when a spaceship crashes into the prairie near Silver City, Ariz.

The story draws a parallel between the American colonists driving to conquer the “savage” Indians with their advanced technology and the aliens’ assault on Earthlings, who must join together to survive the invaders’ attack.