Tom Cruise set for Magnificent Seven remake
Tuesday 22 May 2012 07.00 ED
theguardian.co.uk
MGM studio takes advantage of its
extensive back catalogue to resurrect classic 1960 western, with updates of
Robocop and Carrie also on the cards.
Tom
Cruise is in line to star in a remake of the classic 1960 western
The Magnificent Seven, according to a Variety report.
The new version is in the early
stages of development at studio MGM, which is taking advantage of its extensive
back catalogue to reassert itself following several years of financial travails.
The studio will also deliver new versions of the Paul Verhoeven sci-fi romp Robocop and the classic Stephen King horror Carrie, both of which go into production later
this year.
The Magnificent Seven was itself a remake of
Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese tale Seven Samurai. John Sturges's film featured an
impressive ensemble cast of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James
Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz. It centred on a ragtag
group of Americans recruited to help defend a Mexican village against raiding
bandits. It is not known which role Cruise is considering or who might star
alongside him. Variety says MGM does not yet have a writer, either.
Such projects are prone to falling
by the wayside – a remake of Seven Samurai, touted last year, was to be set in
Thailand and directed by British film-maker Scott Mann, but has not yet made it
to the big screen – though MGM seems pretty serious about revisiting its back
catalogue. As well as the above-mentioned films the studio wants to remake 80s
horror Poltergeist, geeky teen tale War Games, vigilante revenge thriller Death Wish and Nicolas Cage romcom Valley
Girl.
Cruise has plenty of projects to
keep him busy after seeing the latest Mission: Impossible film, Ghost Protocol,
deliver the series' highest box-office yield
and strong reviews earlier this year. He will play an ageing sex god rocker in
the upcoming musical Rock of Ages, and is set to
portray the retired military policeman Jack Reacher in an adaptation of Lee
Child's thriller novel One Shot, which is due in cinemas
this December.
Other projects include the Joseph Kosinski
dystopian sci-fi film Oblivion and the Doug Liman action
movie All You Need is Kill, while Cruise is also being tapped to star opposite
Beyoncé in the latest remake of A Star Is Born for Clint Eastwood
and to return to the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a sequel to 1986's Top Gun.
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On a mission for MGM ... Tom Cruise
is set to star in a remake of The Magnificent Seven. Photograph: Unimedia
Images/Rex Features
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