Thursday, June 05, 2014

Will Washington & Fuqua Saddle Up For "Magnificent" Redux?

"The Equalizer," star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua may reunite for the long-gestating contemporary remake of the John Sturges' 1960 western "The Magnificent Seven" says The Playlist.



Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reportedly offered the job to Fuqua last week, though we have yet to know whether Fuqua's accepted the gig yet.

The folks over at Schmoes Know claim that not only has he accepted, he's already made an offer to Denzel for the lead role. This would mark the actor's first real western.

 Fuqua has the drug smuggling film "Narco Sub" and the boxing drama "Southpaw" in the works right now.

Tom Cruise became interested in 'Magnificent' early in 2012, but his busy schedule prevented him from any real commitment on his part and he withdrew his name by late 2013.

At the same time, "Saving Mr. Banks" and "The Blind Side" director John Lee Hancock has been tasked to rewrite the film. Nic Pizzolatto ("True Detective") wrote an earlier draft of the script.

Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz starred in 'Magnificent' The original was itself a loose remake Akira Kurosawa's acclaimed 1954 film "Seven Samurai" and followed seven gunfighters-for-hire tasked with protecting a small Mexican village from bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach).

Three sequels Return of the Seven (1966) Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) and a short-lived TV series (1998-2000) followed.

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