Director Antoine Fuqua’s master plan to take over the world vis-a-vis Denzel Washington is coming one step closer to fruition. MGM is reportedly circling the Internet’s favorite son, Chris Pratt, to star alongside Washington in the director’s remake of The Magnificent Seven. The original 1960 John Sturges-directed film, which starred Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and many other badass men as a ragtag crew of expert gunmen hired to defend a small town, is itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s seminal Seven Samurai, so it’s only natural that the cycle should continue. The talks are still in very early stages, but Pratt would be the first of the remaining Magnificent six that need to be cast.
Evidently, MGM has been trying to remake The Magnificent Seven for quite some time, originally developing the project as a vehicle for Tom Cruise. True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto and John Lee Hancock both wrote drafts of the project, which is evidently set in the wake of the Civil War, towards the end of the Wild West era.
Hot off of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, Chris Pratt’s star is at an all-time high, and if they’re insisting on remaking the film anyway, I’m glad they’re looking at actors like him. In addition to big budget tentpole films, Pratt has also proven himself a formidable actor in projects like Zero Dark Thirty and Her, so this wouldn’t just be Andy Dwyer goes to the Old West. Actually, now that I’m reading that back, a Wild West-themed Parks & Rec episode would be pretty spectacular.
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Would you like to see Chris Pratt in The Magnificent Seven? Who else should be in the film? Let me know in the comments below or tell me on Twitter (@Osteoferocious)
[HT: Deadline]
Every movie needs a little bit more of my boy CP.
Don’t mention that Magnificent Seven was a blatant ripoff (not sure if they paid for it or not) of the Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai.
It would be considered an English-language remake/adaptation now, though I don’t think they credited the original at the time. I remember Kurosawa WAS pretty miffed at A Fistful of Dollars, which is a shot-for-shot remake of Yojimbo.
The story does mention that fact.. try to read the whole story before showing your ignorance.
Man, I remember when Chris Pratt was on (then) WB teen drama, Everwood, as the jock-bully, big brother to Emily van Camp (who has also since then entered the Marvel CU). It’s been quite the journey in the intervening decade since.
As the Robert Vaughan character, I guess? Cool