Deer Hunter director's 1979 pitch for a Star Wars V that never was

It took geek god Joss Whedon to truly make the space western a viable concept—and Firefly only lasted one season and a movie. But did you know that Star Wars Episode V could've been the first big, intergalactic western, way back in 1979?

Director Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter, Year of the Dragon) has revealed via Twitter that he pitched a concept back in the day for his own version of Star Wars V, which would've been a major departure from the Empire Strikes Back we all know and love.

Apparently that wild era was a free-for-all, with directors throwing out a lot of ideas to follow-up the first film. Read on to see what idea Cimino pitched at George Lucas and company back in the day:

Everyone was pitching ideas for STAR WARS / Mine was simple: / A straight Western / but with lasers. / All the sets already built of course.

— Michael Cimino (@Cimino1939) December 7, 2012

Yeah, Empire Strikes Back is great and all, but how cool does this sound? Considering Cimino's unique filmmaking style, this could've been a heck of a cool movie.

What do you think? Would you have liked to see a straight-up Star Wars western?

(Via Bleeding Cool)