Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in search of a more successful criminal career. In 2003, the film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The American Film Institute ranked "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" as the 73rd-greatest American film on its "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)" list. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were ranked 20th greatest heroes on "AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains". In late 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy is the affable, clever, talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. His closest companion
Sam Peckinpah Hyman and Phil Feldman were interested in having Peckinpah rewrite and direct an adventure film, "The Diamond Story". An alternative screenplay written by Roy Sickner and Walon Green was the western "The Wild Bunch". At the time, William Goldman's screenplay "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" had recently been purchased by 20th Century Fox. It was quickly decided that "The Wild Bunch", which had several similarities to Goldman's work, would be produced in order to beat "Butch Cassidy" to the theaters. By the fall of 1967, Peckinpah was rewriting the screenplay into what became "The Wild Bunch". Filmed on location