J. Michael Straczynski did not improve, and the show ended after 2 seasons. Straczynski wrote "Changeling", a psychological drama film based partly on the "Wineville Chicken Coop" kidnapping and murder case in Los Angeles, California. Directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Ron Howard, and starring Angelina Jolie, the film premiered in 2008, and subsequently received eight nominations for the BAFTA Award, including a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The first draft script was written in eleven days, after Straczynski figured out "how to tell" the story, which ended up being the shooting draft, after Eastwood declined to make any changes. It was optioned
Clint Eastwood of Spain by the then relatively unknown Sergio Leone. Richard Harrison suggested Eastwood to Leone because Harrison knew Eastwood could play a cowboy convincingly. Eastwood thought the film would be an opportunity to escape from his "Rawhide" image. Eastwood signed a contract for $15,000 in wages for eleven weeks' work, with a bonus of a Mercedes automobile upon completion. Eastwood later spoke of the transition from a television western to "A Fistful of Dollars": "In "Rawhide" I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody.