History now has cast both heads of the clans in its upcoming family feud miniseries.
Bill Paxton (Big Love, Titanic) will portray Randall McCoy opposite Kevin Costner's (Dances With Wolves, Field of Dreams) "Devil" Anse Hatfield in History's miniseries, The Hatfields and McCoys. The project is set to bow in 2012.
Close friends and comrades during the Civil War, the pair returned to their neighboring homes -- Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy just across the Tug River border in Kentucky -- to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon exploded into all-out warfare between the two families. As hostilities grew, friends, neighbors and outside forces joined the fight, bringing the two states to the brink of another civil war. Their story also includes: a tempestuous love affair between Hatfield's son and McCoy's daughter, which had disastrous consequences; the execution of McCoy's three young sons in retaliation for the Rasputin-like murder of Hatfield's beloved brother; a New Year's massacre of the McCoy clan and burning of their home; a public clash between state governors; and ultimately the involvement of the United States Supreme Court.
Kevin Reynolds (Red Dawn, The Count of Monte Cristo) has signed on to direct the project. The miniseries will be produced by Leslie Greif's production company, Thinkfactory Media, and Costner as producing partner.
