Denzel Washington is to replace Tom Cruise in MGM’s remake of the iconic western, The Magnificent Seven. Antoine Fuqua was Washington’s director on the movie Training Day, and he will direct the much-anticipated remake.
Fuqua confirmed the news in interviews at the Toronto film festival, which hosted the premiere of The Equalizer. In The Equalizer, Washington plays the role made famous by Edward Woodward in the 1980s US TV series that inspired the modern remake.
Fuqua is thrilled to be working with Washington on a third project, as he told Variety. “Denzel’s all about the work,” he said. “He’s all about the acting. He’s an actor. He’ll tell you himself, ‘I’m not a movie star, celebrity, something else, I’m an actor.’ He steps on a set, that’s what he is and that’s what he gives you. He gives his heart.”
Tom Cruise was understood to be heading the cast in this latest version of The Magnificent Seven, which was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film, Seven Samurai.
The 1960 Hollywood film was directed by John Sturges and featured a colourful band of gunmen, played by Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz. This rough and ready bunch are recruited to help defend a Mexican village against raiding bandits.
