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) a success and Wayne lost his personal investment. He sold his rights to United Artists, which had released it, and it made back its money. Critical response was mixed, from the "New York Herald Tribune"'s four-star "A magnificent job...Visually and dramatically, "The Alamo" is top-flight," to "Time" magazine's "flat as Texas." The film has a score of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is thought to have been denied awards because Academy voters were alienated by an overblown publicity campaign, particularly one "Variety" ad claiming that the film's cast was praying harder for Chill Wills to win his award than