In October 1997, it was reported that Howard had shown interest in directing "''The Pretenders"'', a [[Western film|Western]] [[Epic film|epic]] with a contemporary edge, that told a story of greed and corruption among the powerful robber barons of 1873 [[San Francisco]]. [[Eric Warren Singer]] wrote the screenplay, with [[Matthew McConaughey]] and [[Brad Pitt]] in talks to play cousins who make a trek west to San Francisco from their [[Kentucky]] home, in a pairing said to be reminiscent of ''[[Butch Cassidy and the leadSundance rolesKid]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Petrikin|first=Chris|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/news/mcconaughey-pitt-may-saddle-up-for-howard-1116674380/|title=McConaughey, Pitt may saddle up for Howard|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 17, 1997|access-date=April 1, 2025}}</ref>
