The novel was adapted as the feature film "The Dark Wind" in 1991. It starred Lou Diamond Phillips as Jim Chee, Fred Ward as Joe Leaphorn and Gary Farmer as Cowboy Dashee. It was directed by Errol Morris, a documentary film-maker making his dramatic feature debut. Robert Redford was executive producer, hoping for a series of films, but he was unhappy with the production and director. In an article on the successful adaptation of "Skinwalkers" in 2002, Redford said of "The Dark Wind" that "The film, says Redford, wasn't any good and wasn't released. "That was a false start," Redford says. "It was miscast. It was ill-conceived and I didn't think it was the right beginning for the series. It wasn't distributed.""