It feels like we’ve been reporting for a while on the people who will play the heroic gunslingers in Antoine Fuqua’s new take on The Magnificent Seven. But what about the villain of the piece? Now we know that Peter Sarsagaard is in negotiations to fill that role, finalising a deal to play Bartholomew Bogue, a robber baron.
Bogue and his goons target a small town perched near a gold mine. When the villains kill several people in their attempt to take the place over, a young woman (Haley Bennett), who lost her husband in the fight, hires a bounty hunter (Denzel 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 Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Luke Grimes, Wagner Moura, Byung-hun Lee and Vincent D’Onofrio come into play.
But one thing Sarsgaard’s baddie might have to do before he can attack the town is hire himself some new help, as Deadline has heard that Jason Momoa is dropping out of the film because his role isn’t big enough. That's far from official, however, so all involved may yet find a way to make it work.
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 version recently locked in a January 2017 release across the pond and in the UK. Sarsgaard will next be seen in Boston crime drama Black Mass, which is out here on November 13.