Hartnett has signed on to headline Gunslinger, to be directed by Blood: The Last Vampire's Chris Nahon. The movie will update the classic western plot of a man seeking revenge on an outlaw gang for killing his family by placing events in a "near future... snowy wasteland of a post-apocalyptic America," according to Variety. Producer Mark Williams sells the idea on a base level:

This story takes a unique and startling look at what might happen when the lawlessness of the Old West returns ... but with better weapons.

The movie is due to start shooting early next year.

Josh Hartnett aims for 'Gunslinger' [Variety]

Alas, the archives don’t tell us much more than that the robot was built by Robert Wolfe and that the pictures were taken in 1960, so it’s impossible (even with the help of the interwebs) to figure out just why TV actor Mike Connors was pictured in an attempt to outdraw the mechanical marshal (perhaps it was to publicize Connors then-current cop drama, Tightrope). Crichton famously took Brynner’s character in The Magnificent Seven as his visual inspiration for The Gunslinger—but Wolfe’s “pistol-shooting robot” looks awfully familiar, too.

"Pistol shooting robot invented by Robert Wolfe."

"TV actor, Mike Connors, trying to outdraw pistol-shooting robot."

"Robot equipped with fast-draw invention shoots it out with live gunner."

Life Photo Archive [Google]