Logline: When her sassy 8-year-old busts into the house in tears, Rebecca comforts her with a tall Western tale about an outlawed rootin’, tootin’ gunslinger, Bee, and her gang of misfits traversing the grand Sierra Mountains, taking down the infamous Ray. This is The Legend of Bee Willcox.
Genre: Western, Comedy
Synopsis: After being teased at the playground for wanting to be a cowboy, a young Lily rushes home with a makeshift barbie cowboy action figure in tears, prompting her mother, Rebecca, to comfort her with a legendary tale: the story of Bee Willcox, a fierce and independent outlaw in the 1880s American West. Bee, a skilled gunslinger with a bounty on her head, returns to Genoa, Nevada, and takes down a group of wimpy bounty hunters before learning of a gold shipment from her informant bartender Jackson. She robs the train carrying the gold, but is confronted by the ever-so charming Skip, her former partner and ex-lover, who is now working for the corrupt crime boss Ray. They narrowly escape death as the train plummets to the bottom of a cliff and flee with the stolen gold, crossing paths with a humble and quirky Chinese-American farmer, Charlie, who becomes their unlikely ally.
The trio agrees to team up for a big job: taking down Ray, who has been exploiting his own people under the guise of protecting their ancestral land. Bee reluctantly agrees after Skip proposes an equal split and reveals Ray’s growing tyranny. Along the way, Bee and Charlie form a bond while Skip struggles to prove he’s changed. Their journey is dangerous, with confrontations against Ray’s men, including a tragic encounter where Skip kills Miguel, an informant and father, before Bee can learn the truth from him. Meanwhile, subplots unfold around Ray’s deceitful empire, including a threat against Miguel’s family and a quiet resistant network led by Mabel, Bee’s ally.
As the three close in on Ray’s stronghold, Bee’s painful past with Skip resurfaces: he once betrayed her, leading to her captivity in a brothel. Despite the tension, they regroups with Bee revealing her mission is no longer just about the money but to support a network of women who’ve suffered like she has. Their destination is Bee’s saloon, a hidden sanctuary and base of operations full of bad ass women and laughter. As Bee trains Charlie in shooting and shares her motivations, the trio prepares for their final confrontation. The Legend of Bee Wilcox is a blend of personal redemption with a reckoning against injustice and betrayal delivered with wit and fun.
To request the full script, please contact Malia Yim at malyim@chapman.edu.