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) but was unable to take his script with him. That script was later rewritten and made into the movie "The Last Command" with Jim Bowie the character of focus. Wayne and producer Robert Fellows formed their own production company, Batjac. As Wayne developed his vision of what a movie about the Alamo should be, he concluded he did not want to risk seeing that vision changed; he would produce and direct the movie himself, though not act in it. However, he was unable to enlist financial support for the project without the presumptive box-office guarantee his on-screen appearance would provide.