sentences:  In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts producers Kenneth Hyman and Phil Feldman were interested in having Sam Peckinpah rewrite and direct an adventure film called "The Diamond Story".A professional outcast due to the production difficulties of his previous film, "Major Dundee" (1965), and his firing from the set of "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), Peckinpah's stock had improved following his critically acclaimed work on the television film "Noon Wine" (1966).An alternative screenplay available at the studio was "The Wild Bunch".