Cattle Calls

Thanks to credits like “The Hunt for Red October” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” screenwriter Larry Ferguson’s planning to saddle up and make his directorial debut--with a “true to the genre” Western, which he has scripted.

“Gunfighter’s Moon” will be exec produced by John McTiernan (director of “Red October”) for Pathe. No casting or start date yet for the story of the “world’s fastest gun” who’s summoned to rescue the 17-year-old daughter he didn’t know he had.

“There’ll be no attempts to contemporize the genre,” stresses Ferguson, who says the film’s title comes from an old legend that says “when the sun and the moon both ride the sky, widows will weep and men will die.”

Ferguson’s project is just one in a herd of Westerns headed for the pass, including “Young Guns II,” just wrapped for summer release; “Back to the Future, Part III,” from Universal, also due in summer; “White Fang,” based on Jack London’s novel about a man and his dog in the days of gold fever, to be distributed by Disney next year, and “Dances With Wolves,” Orion’s fall release.

Then there’s 21st Century’s “Bad Jim,” with James Brolin, Richard Roundtree and John Clark Gable (son of Clark, in his first film), as three cowpokes who acquire a speedy thoroughbred once raised by Billy the Kid. Directed by Clyde Ware, it’s reportedly headed straight for video on April 25.

And John Kostmayer is scripting “Silverado II” for director Lawrence Kasdan and Columbia.