The long-running CBS Western "Have Gun -- Will Travel" is expected to get a significant coat of fresh paint in a feature film version being developed at Paramount for Grammy-winning rapper Eminem.

According to Variety, Paramount has taken out an 18-month option for the Interscope/Shady/Aftermath Films shingle to rework the potential franchise for Eminem. Producers on the hypothetical feature would include Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg, Stuart Parr and Gene Kirkwood.

The original series ran on CBS from 1957-1963 and earned Richard Boone a pair of Emmy nominations for his work as Paladin, a Civil War veteran who traveled out West and became a mercenary sharpshooter. The show may be best remembered for the theme song "The Ballad of Paladin," performed by Johnny Western. Younger audiences might recall the tune being used in the film "Stand By Me."

Viewers can just pray that Eminem will remix the theme for his feature, which will tape extensive liberties with the original story. The industry trade paper speculates that the "8 Mile" star will play a modern-day bounty hunter and suggests, without any evidence, that Eminem's home town of Detroit may get to be the new location.

Thus far, nobody has signed on to write or direct.