The Alamo (2004 film) to withdraw from Texas and to accept Texan independence, despite the Texans wanting to hang him as revenge for the Alamo. The last scene in the movie shows the spirit of Crockett playing his fiddle on the top of the Alamo and then looking out on the horizon. The film was originally conceived by Imagine Entertainment, with Ron Howard in the director's chair and partner Brian Grazer as producer. Russell Crowe was originally cast as Sam Houston, Ethan Hawke as William Barret Travis and Billy Bob Thornton as David Crockett. But there were financial and creative disagreements between Imagine and
The Alamo (1960 film) UA re-edited it to 167 minutes. The 202-minute version was believed lost until a Canadian fan, Bob Bryden, realized he had seen the full version in the 1970s. He and Alamo collector Ashley Ward discovered the last known surviving print of the 70 mm premiere version in Toronto. It was pristine. MGM (UA's sister studio) used this print to make a digital video transfer of the roadshow version for VHS and LaserDisc release. The print was taken apart and deteriorated in storage. By 2007, it was unavailable in any useful form. MGM used the shorter, general release version for subsequent