Angel brings John Wayne western back to cinemas with Zachary Levi

Angel's remake of Angel and the Badman reaches cinemas on 9 October 2026, Angel. The western centres on wounded outlaw Quirt Evans, who finds mercy in the care of a rancher's daughter. Love offers him a pull toward a different life.

Zachary Levi leads the film as Evans, Variety. Meg Fraser plays Penny Worth, the rancher's daughter. Julio Quintana directs.

Tommy Lee Jones plays a U.S. Marshal, in the role originated by Harry Carey. Neal McDonough also stars alongside Levi and Jones. That casting brings together three familiar screen names around two newcomers to this story.

The original Angel and the Badman dates to 1947. It starred John Wayne and was his self-financed debut as a producer. It came from Republic Pictures and was written by James Edward Grant.

Grant also made his directorial debut on that film. He went on to write another 11 Wayne films. That long partnership started here.

This is not the first revisit. A 2009 Hallmark Channel adaptation starred Lou Diamond Phillips and Deborah Kara Unger. That version was shot in British Columbia.

Angel put this remake at the centre of its cinema plans. The company named Angel and the Badman as one of five theatrical releases at its mainstage presentation at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema owners, Angel. CinemaCon is where distributors claim dates and show footage to win bookings.

Angel rebranded from Angel Studios in 2025 to Angel, a media company and streaming platform. Theatrical releases now sit alongside its streaming home.

Levi has described the 2026 film as a reimagining of the original, Moviefone. He discussed it in a joint interview with McDonough, Fraser and Quintana. That conversation traces how the team approached a story many viewers will know and others will meet fresh.

What makes this stand out is the distance travelled. A self-financed star vehicle from the 1940s became a television movie in the 2000s. Now it returns as a cinema release with a new cast.