When Deadwood went off the air in 2006, fans were seriously upset. The show that had built a massive cult following ended with no proper conclusion, seriously angering its fans and followers. Now, with another resurgence for the Western genre in the cards, HBO is still working on bringing the characters back in a one off movie that will definitely bank big numbers for the cable outlet.
With a script complete and ready to go, they're supposedly waiting on schedules to clear and make this thing possible. The major puzzle piece of Ian McShane may prove to be a stumbling block as his role on American Gods could possibly interfere. However, Starz and HBO have supposedly already discussed the possibility of this happening and they've agreed to make him available when need be.
In an interview with Variety, McShane discussed his return to Deadwood:
There are signs that HBO are quite keen to make it. They’ve got the script. It’s when they’ll make an offer and when we can fit it in. We probably won’t start “American Gods” until probably the end of the year or early next year, so there’s a window when we can do “Deadwood,” but they need to get everybody together. I mean all the characters that David [Milch] wants to put in the show. I’m probably going to have breakfast with him later this week. But no, they’re keen to do it, and I’m sure it would seem not only artistically a perfect time to do it but also commercially because there’s always been a revised interested in “Deadwood.” It went off the air far too soon for all the reasons you say, but that’s a long time ago. It seems like a two hour film would be a nice thing for all the people that want to see it and all of us who were deprived of the gig too early.
If all the stars align, it's starting to sound more and more like this project will get the green light from HBO and we just might get some more profanity laden dialogue from McShane and his fellow cast members.