Billy the Kid has been one of America’s most famous outlaws for over 140 years, and Hollywood just can’t stop telling his story. From silent films to modern blockbusters, filmmakers keep returning to this young gunslinger from the Wild West.
Whether you picture him as a hero, a villain, or something in between depends a lot on which movie you watch. Here are 18 films that have shaped the legend of Billy the Kid across more than a century of cinema.
1. Billy the Kid (1930)
MGM took a big swing with this early talkie, casting Johnny Mack Brown as the legendary outlaw in one of the first sound Westerns to tackle the Kid’s story. Director King Vidor gave the film an almost romantic quality, painting Billy as a misunderstood young man rather than a cold-blooded killer.
The film was even released in a widescreen format called Grandeur, which was rare for its time. History buffs will enjoy spotting the creative liberties taken with real events.
2. Billy the Kid Returns (1938)
Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys, stepped into Billy the Kid’s boots for this fun and fast-moving Western adventure. The clever twist here is that Rogers plays a cowboy who just happens to look exactly like the outlaw, creating all kinds of wild mix-ups.
It is lighthearted, action-packed, and full of the singing cowboy charm that made Rogers a superstar. A great pick if you want a feel-good Western without too much grit.
3. The Outlaw (1943)
Howard Hughes produced this controversial Western that caused quite a scandal when it was released, mostly because of its bold marketing and the way it portrayed its female lead. Jack Buetel played Billy the Kid as a brooding, magnetic young man caught between loyalty and danger.
The film spent years fighting censors before it finally reached wide audiences. Whatever you think of its reputation, it definitely kept Billy the Kid’s name in the headlines for years.
4. I Shot Billy the Kid (1950)
Told from the perspective of Pat Garrett, the lawman who famously ended Billy the Kid’s life, this low-budget film flips the usual script. Don Barry plays Billy as genuinely threatening, which was a refreshing change from the more sympathetic portrayals of earlier decades.
The film asks a tough question: what does it feel like to shoot a man you once called a friend? It is short, punchy, and surprisingly thoughtful for a B-Western of its era.
5. The Left Handed Gun (1958)
Paul Newman brought serious Method acting energy to Billy the Kid in this Arthur Penn-directed film, making it one of the most psychologically complex Westerns of the 1950s. Newman played Billy as emotionally volatile, almost childlike, driven more by grief and loyalty than by any real desire to be an outlaw.
Fun fact: the title refers to a popular but historically questionable claim that Billy was left-handed. The film remains a standout character study in Western cinema.
6. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece is melancholy, violent, and deeply poetic. Kris Kristofferson plays Billy with a laid-back cool that makes him oddly likable even as the walls close in around him.
James Coburn’s Pat Garrett is equally compelling, a man who sold out his past to survive.
Bob Dylan wrote and performed the soundtrack, including the iconic song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. This film treats the Billy the Kid legend as a genuine American tragedy worth mourning.
7. Billy the Kid (1989 TV Movie)
Val Kilmer brought real charisma and a boyish intensity to this made-for-TV movie that tried hard to humanize the famous outlaw. Director William Graham leaned into the friendship between Billy and Pat Garrett, making their eventual confrontation feel genuinely heartbreaking.
Kilmer was already building the magnetic screen presence that would later define his career. For a TV production, this one holds up surprisingly well and deserves more attention from Western fans who may have missed it.
8. Young Guns (1988)
Young Guns turned Billy the Kid into an 80s action hero, casting Emilio Estevez as a fast-talking, unpredictable outlaw surrounded by a crew of young Regulators. The film had the energy of a rock music video wrapped inside a Western, and audiences loved every minute of it.
Estevez reportedly studied historical accounts and even visited New Mexico to prepare for the role. The result was a Billy the Kid who felt fresh, funny, and genuinely dangerous all at once.
9. Young Guns II (1990)
Emilio Estevez returned as Billy the Kid in this sequel, which cranked up the stakes and the mythology surrounding the outlaw’s supposed survival after his death. The film plays with the popular legend that Billy was never actually killed by Pat Garrett, a theory that still has believers today.
Jon Bon Jovi contributed the hit song Blaze of Glory to the soundtrack, turning the film into a pop culture moment. It is bigger, bolder, and even more fun than the original.
10. Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid (1989)
Writer Gore Vidal had a lifelong fascination with Billy the Kid, and this TV adaptation showed a more literary and reflective take on the outlaw’s short life. Duncan Regehr played Billy as intelligent and self-aware, a young man who understood exactly what kind of story he was living.
Vidal believed Billy was more complicated than the legends suggested, and this film makes a strong case for that view. It is thoughtful, well-acted, and a worthy companion to the more action-focused versions of the story.
11. Dirty Little Billy (1972)
Forget the glamour – this film strips away every romantic idea about Billy the Kid and replaces it with mud, poverty, and desperation. Michael J.
Pollard played Billy as a weird, twitchy misfit who stumbles into violence almost by accident, which was a bold creative choice.
The film bombed at the box office but has since earned respect as one of the most honest portrayals of frontier life ever put on screen. It is rough, unglamorous, and genuinely unlike any other Billy the Kid movie.
12. Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966)
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like, and it is absolutely glorious. Chuck Courtney played Billy the Kid as a reformed outlaw who has to save his fiance from the vampire Count Dracula, played with scenery-chewing delight by John Carradine.
Made on a shoestring budget and released as a double feature, this film is pure campy fun. It proves that Billy the Kid’s name was so powerful that filmmakers would attach it to almost any genre imaginable, including monster movies.
13. Chisum (1970)
John Wayne dominates this film as cattle baron John Chisum, but Billy the Kid plays an important supporting role in the Lincoln County War storyline that drives the plot. Geoffrey Deuel gave Billy a charming, slightly reckless energy that worked well opposite Wayne’s commanding presence.
The film takes a very pro-Chisum, pro-law-and-order view of events that historians might argue with, but as a big, entertaining Western it delivers the goods. Wayne fans and Billy the Kid fans both have plenty to enjoy here.
14. Brushfire (Billy the Kid in Santa Fe) (1962)
Lesser-known Billy the Kid films often fill in gaps that bigger productions skip over, and this one takes a closer look at Billy’s time in and around Santa Fe. The film captures the political chaos of New Mexico Territory during the 1870s, when corruption and violence went hand in hand.
It may not have the star power of some entries on this list, but it offers a more grounded look at the world Billy actually navigated. Sometimes the quieter films tell the truest stories.
15. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Okay, Billy the Kid is not the main character here, but Dan Shor’s portrayal of him as an enthusiastic, trigger-happy time traveler is one of the funniest versions of the outlaw ever committed to film. When Bill and Ted scoop him up in their time-traveling phone booth, Billy fits right in with their chaotic adventure.
The film treats Billy’s wild energy as comedy gold rather than danger. It is a playful reminder that the Kid’s legend is flexible enough to fit into almost any story.
16. Purgatory (1999 TV Movie)
Sam Shepard starred in this imaginative TV Western where a group of outlaws stumbles into a strange, peaceful town – and slowly realizes its residents are famous historical figures from the Old West, including Billy the Kid. The premise sounds wild, but the film handles it with surprising seriousness.
Billy appears as a ghost trying to earn his way out of purgatory by staying peaceful, which is about as far from his historical reputation as you can get. It is a genuinely creative take on Western mythology.
17. Billy the Kid (2013 Documentary)
Not every great Billy the Kid film is a work of fiction. This documentary digs into the real historical record, separating verified facts from the mountain of myths that have built up around the outlaw over the decades.
Historians, authors, and descendants of Lincoln County figures all weigh in.
The film is especially good at explaining why Billy became a legend so quickly after his death. Understanding the real story makes every fictional version of Billy the Kid even more interesting to watch.
18. Billy the Kid (2022 TV Series Premiere Film)
The EPIX series that launched in 2022 gave Billy the Kid a prestige TV treatment, with Jonah Collier playing a young William Bonney as he grows from Irish immigrant boy into legendary outlaw. The show committed serious production resources to recreating the look and feel of 1870s New Mexico.
Creator Michael Hirst, who previously brought Vikings to life, applied the same sprawling historical drama approach to Billy’s story. The series pilot functions almost as a standalone film and is a great starting point for new fans of the legend.