Director Antoine Fuqua and his Equalizer star Denzel Washington already have one extra person aboard their planned remake of The Magnificent Seven, with Chris Pratt in their sights since December. But they’ve turned to the cast of their previous collaboration for the female lead, as Haley Bennett has won a prime role in the film.
The movie will once more see a small town – in this case built around a gold mine – threatened by a ruthless baron and his gang of thugs. When they kill several people in their attempt to take the place over, a young widow (Bennett) hires a bounty hunter (Washington) to dispatch the bad guys, supplying him with the necessary funds to hire six gunmen to help him in his mission. Which is where Pratt and others come into play.
John Lee Hancock and True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto are among those who have contributed to the screenplay, adapted from the classic Seven Samurai, which became the first crack at a Magnificent Seven in 1960. Fuqua’s effort should arrive at some point next year, but has no set date yet. Bennett, who played Mandy in The Equalizer, has worked on Warren Beatty’s untitled Howard Hughes film, one of Terrence Malick’s 2015 projects and Gabriele Muccino’s Fathers And Daughters.