The frontier isn’t kind to wagons in the movies, but in the new Western Frontier Crucible (2025), it’s downright vicious. The upcoming Western thriller, from the producer of Bone Tomahawk, hits theaters and digital on Dec. 5, 2025. The movie — which also stars Armie Hammer in his first major role after a years-long hiatus — follows a wagon loaded with critical medical supplies as it moves through hostile territory. The only man who can guide it to its destination is Merrick Beckford, but to get there, he has to team up with a trio of dangerous outlaws who are just as interested in surviving as they are in getting paid.
In an exclusive interview with Military.com, star Thomas Jane and director Travis Mills break down the brutal 18-day shoot, how they approached the settler–Apache conflict, and why getting the gun handling right mattered for military and law-enforcement viewers.
Making ‘Frontier Crucible’ (2025): Thomas Jane & Director Travis Mills on Their Gritty New Western
An Outsider’s View of the American West in ‘Frontier Crucible’
Mills’ take on the West is shaped by a life spent partly outside the United States.
“Being outside of America, first of all, it just gives you an idea of what the world is really like, outside of the American bubble,” he said. “Growing up in the third world, you can see the difference between necessity… and what we want and what we need in life.”
That experience, he said, helped him connect with the harsh realities faced by pioneers on the frontier. “I think you can maybe understand the pioneer lifestyle more when you’ve seen how people are surviving in the third world,” Mills said. “But there is an interesting idea about, you know, some of the best ‘American films’ [that] have been made by outsiders. Whether it's Polanski making Chinatown, or Peter Weir making Witness. And anytime someone from Europe or Australia makes a Western, I think it shows a different perspective.”
Even though he’s American, Mills said that upbringing — and being raised by Christian missionaries — gave him a different way into the genre.
“You could argue that, even though I am American, growing up with that influence gives me a different perspective,” he said. “But also, you know, I was raised by Christian missionaries, and I think the idea of the moral code and sticking with your principles is just something that resonates to me. And that’s probably why I keep coming back to the Western genre.”
How ‘Frontier Crucible’ Tackles the Settler–Apache Conflict and Native American Representation
Frontier stories about settlers and Native Americans are tricky territory, especially for modern audiences. Mills said authenticity and respect were non-negotiable.
“We always tried to lean on the people who understand the history as much as possible, whether it’s turning to the tribes,” he said. “We had actual Apache actors in this and listened to them about, for instance, the war paint.”
Their input directly changed how some of the characters looked on screen. “What we would have done in our own little bubble with my makeup artist Jeff Dawn is definitely different than when they told us, ‘No, it would just be this simple stripe, OK?’” Mills said. “We’re going to adapt to that, have them look at the costumes and say, ‘This is silly. That’s silly. It would just be these pieces.’”
He also relied heavily on a longtime collaborator with deep knowledge of Western history.
“I have a wonderful friend, John Marrs, who’s in the cavalry in the beginning, and he was our armorer, and he understands Western history and the authenticity of the costumes better than anyone that I know,” Mills said. “He was there just to pull the leather hat off of someone, you know what I mean, and say, ‘No, this is really silly. That might look cool, and you might have seen it in a movie, but we’re not going to wear yellow scarves in the cavalry because John Ford did. That’s not accurate.’ We always try to lean on authenticity as much as possible.”
Jane echoed that commitment when talking about working with Native cast and crew. “We had the Navajo, we had people working with us, you know, so we wanted to get it right and we respected and actually listened to the advice that we were given and we did the best we could,” Jane said. “We just wanted to make the American Indian actors happy. Like if they felt like they were doing, you know, being ‘true’ to their ancestors and to the way of life that they came from. You know, that’s a responsibility, you know, to tell the truth. And so we did the best we could with that.”
Inside ‘Frontier Crucible’s’ Brutal 18-Day On-Location Shoot
If the story is punishing, the shoot wasn’t far behind.
“It’s a physically challenging film,” Mills said. “We were filming on location, thankfully just ten minutes from the town of Prescott, but having to hoof all this gear and crew to the location, which you could get no vehicles to. So, it’s physically challenging for everyone and exhausting.”
On top of the terrain, the schedule was brutal. “[We were] having to shoot really a 130-page script in eighteen days, which is not easy,” he said. “And then when it came to doing the crucible, or the final fight, we did the Crucible sequence in two days. We did the final fight in one day.”
That meant constant pressure.
“You talk about pain, that in the moment there’s a lot of stress and tension and you realize every minute counts, and you have to work with your collaborators to make sure you’re not making mistakes and losing minutes in the day,” Mills said. “I mean, it is really more like being on the football field, right? Where every first down counts, every play matters, and a lot of people don’t understand that. But I had wonderful collaborators on this. We got lucky. It wasn’t easy, but we got lucky and worked well together.”
Jane said his own experience on set had its own kind of intensity — but also a lot of camaraderie. “Well, he had a different set of circumstances. I just had to show up on set and live in the character,” Jane said with a laugh. “Me and Armie Hammer, we built a fire every morning and we’d make cowboy coffee and we had a couple of chairs and we’d sit around the fire. Nobody had trailers ‘cause we were out in the middle of nowhere, and there was no place to put them.”
Instead of individual dressing rooms, it was more like a shared barracks.
“We got dressed in the morning in the hotel, and we all had a dressing room. Like, we shared a dressing room,” Jane said. “So at 4:30 in the morning, we’d be up there getting out of our street clothes or our pajamas and putting on these cowboy outfits. And that was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a lot of camaraderie, and it felt like we were doing theater.”
For Jane, that old-school approach extended to the look of the film.
“We were doing theater on film, but we were doing a Western, you know, and we captured the look of the thing. It’s got a great look,” he said. “Maxime Alexandre, the cinematographer, captured like a Western from 1965. That’s what it looks like. I happen to love that kind of thing. I love the period Westerns, man. That’s where they live for me. So to be able to do that was a joy. I’m sure Travis had his own troubles, you know, but we kept the boat afloat.”
How ‘Frontier Crucible’ Gets Gun Handling Right for Military & Law Enforcement Eyes
Mills said one of his priorities was making sure anyone with military or law enforcement experience wouldn’t roll their eyes at how weapons were handled on screen.
“I have to give 100% credit for that to John Marrs, my armorer. He has worked on all of my Westerns with me,” Mills said. “He was our armorer, like I said; he’s actually in the cavalry sequences. Got a cameo in there, in Monument Valley, and he comes from a military and law enforcement background.”
That background shaped how the cast trained and worked with firearms. “He comes with so much information and experience that he can impart to the actors,” Mills said. “He did a gun training with them, he would work with them on site to make sure they were handling the weapons not just safely, but in a way that shows they actually know what they’re doing and don’t look like bumbling fools.”
Depending on the actor’s prior experience, that could be a big lift.
“I remember on another film, we worked with an actor who had never held a gun in his life, never been on a horse in his life, and John’s job was incredibly challenging,” Mills said. “But it’s something that matters to us. We want, you know, military members, policemen and policewomen to watch these films and say, ‘OK, they really paid attention to that.’”
Thomas Jane on Mule, Moral Codes, and ‘Frontier Crucible’s’ Emotional Chess
Jane has played his share of violent and morally complicated men, from The Thin Red Line to “The Punisher” to “1922.” But he said each character has to be built from the ground up.
“‘Mule’—I just love that name… it’s just such a great character. I had so much fun playing that guy,” he said. “Everybody’s different. Every character is different. You got to start from scratch every time and dip into the world, the life of a character, you know, and like everybody you meet, we’ve all got our own row to hoe.”
Asked what he hopes service members get out of the film if they catch it in theaters or on VOD, Jane kept it simple.
“I just want them to be entertained for 90 minutes, that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “If you like Westerns, there’s a lot to like. Don’t go in thinking you’re gonna see a lot of gun work, because we don’t have it. But we have a lot of blood and there’s a lot of torture,” he added, laughing. “The Indians get nasty with us, but we probably deserved it.”
He also pointed to early scenes with William H. Macy as a highlight for military viewers. “You know, William Macy has some good stuff in the beginning where we see the American Army in there and that was fun,” Jane said. “We shot that in Monument Valley, which is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. I’m surprised people don’t shoot more Westerns there, the way John Ford used to do.”
Ultimately, he said, the movie is less about body counts and more about the psychological warfare between the men on that wagon.
“I just hope people are entertained,” Jane said. “If their expectations are they’re going to watch a character piece that has violence but focuses on the emotional chess these characters are engaged in, then they’ll enjoy it.”
And since this interview is for Military.com, Jane had one more message.
“It’s great, man,” he said when he heard where the story would run. “I have a lot of fans from The Punisher in the military. So, thank you for your service, everybody.”
How to Watch ‘Frontier Crucible’ (2025): Release Date, Runtime & Rating
“Frontier Crucible” is directed by Travis Mills from a script by Harry Whittington, based on the novel Desert Stake-Out. The film stars Myles Clohessy, Mary Stickley, Eli Brown, Ryan Masson, Zane Holtz, Eddie Spears, with Armie Hammer, William H. Macy and Thomas Jane.
- In theaters and on digital: December 5, 2025
- Runtime: 125 minutes
- Rating: R
- Genres: Western, Thriller, Drama
- Distributor: Well Go USA Entertainment
You can pre-order “Frontier Crucible” now on Apple TV: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/frontier-crucible/umc.cmc.6os8vyl9y5b0u1l3dshy111l9
And if you want to hear directly from Thomas Jane and Travis Mills about the hardest shoot of their careers, don’t forget to check out the full video interview embedded above.
