Western ‘Buster Scruggs’ to begin filming in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. – A series of feature-length Westerns backed by the Coen Brothers and Annapurna Pictures will begin filming in northern New Mexico in July.

The New Mexico Film Office says work on “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” will run through September. More than 180 crew members, 16 actors and hundreds of background talent will be hired for the project.

Written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, the series consists of six separate stories. The first is about a singing cowboy, while the second follows a drifter and his unsuccessful attempts at bank robbery and cattle driving.

Other stories involve a gold prospector, a woman who finds herself in need of help while travelling the Oregon Trail, and five stagecoach passengers headed for a mysterious destination.