It was revealed today that Universal has agreed to co-finance Seth MacFarlane's upcoming Western comedy, 'A Million Ways to Die in the West,' finally putting the film on the fast track to production. After all, MacFarlane's 'Ted' shattered all expectations at the box office last year, so they'd be foolish not to. Also hidden away in the announcement: Neil Patrick Harris has joined the cast, adding another great name to a shockingly solid ensemble.

Universal announced the news also notes that the the film is aiming for a May 30, 2014 release, knee-deep in what is already looking like a jam-packed summer. Anyone who thinks that a comedic Western from the creator of 'Family Guy' can't compete in the busiest movie season of the year just needs to look at the half billion dollars that 'Ted' made worldwide last summer. Whether you like him or not, MacFarlane has officially conquered just about every avenue Hollywood can offer...except hosting the Oscars. He hasn't figured out how to do that properly yet.

Details on 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' remain scarce, but we do know that MacFarlane himself will star as "a cowardly farmer [who] seeks the help of a gunslinger's wife to help him win back the woman who left him." Naturally, he's surrounded himself with a cavalcade of movie stars and comedians, including Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Sarah Silverman, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi and the previously mentioned Neil Patrick Harris (who really is a national treasure of a man). 'Ted' forced MacFarlane to work outside of his usual pop-culture-reference-rinse-repeat format and the results paid off ten-fold. We can't wait to see if he can do it again.

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