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Antoine Fuqua's THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Adds Two More To The Cast!

I will be the first to admit that I am old at 52 and I happen to love Westerns. Growing up with a father born in Kentucky, and a mother from Oklahoma, my tastes in music and film partially stemmed from their influence. And one of those influences is the appreciation of country music. I get that from my mom and dad. Films on the other hand, were directly influenced by my father. I grew up watching John Wayne films that my father enjoyed. And I enjoy them too. The last Western I watched was the intriguing Cowboys vs Aliens that I found “amusing,” to say the least. My dad would have laughed at this.

So, normally, whenever a new Western was on TV that my father had not seen before, my older brother and I made a family night together with dad.

One of my father’s favorite films was The Magnificent Seven. Also, The Alamo – but that’s another story entirely. It was with interest that I found Training Day and The Equalizer helmer Antoine Fuqua was directing a remake of this classic. But instead of a small Mexican village being terrorized by gun runners, we are having a mining town victimized and taken over by a gold baron.

So who is taking over the iconic roles portrayed by the original cast members? Let’s see: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett, Ethan Hawke, Wagner Moura and Vincent D’Onofrio, and as of this week, actor Byung-hun Lee as “Billy Rocks” and actor Jason Momoa as the villain.

Lee, who will be co-starring in Alan Taylor’s Terminator: Genysis this July and Momoa, currently attached as Aquaman in Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice as well as his own standalone film in a few years, are in very good company along with HBO’s True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto penning the screenplay. The film is coming out on January 13, 2017 from MGM, with extra dilligence needed as we await more info on Fuqua‘s hopeful return to direct the officially greenlit sequel to last year’s The Equalizer.

For others, if boxing dramas are more your speed, Fuqua‘s Southpaw arrives in late July!

H/T: ComingSoon.net via THR, Deadline

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Wagner Moura Adds To Fuqua's THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

For all the bruhaha from some critics over director Neill Blomkamp’s 2013 sci-fi epic, Elysium, at best, it was a film I ultimately enjoyed. It especially landed actor Wagner Moura on my radar while I haven’t yet seen his previous films, Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2 – they’re on my watchlist, so all things in good time.

Meanwhile, Moura‘s screen presence is defintely something I look forward to, particularly with director Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming remake, The Magnificent Seven. The film itself is one that’s come up on occasion in the last few years, interestingly enough with the previously-mentioned and hopeful involvement of Martin Scorsese and action duo Donnie Yen and Yuen Woo-Ping for a remake of Seven Samurai, the 1954 Kurosawa Akira classic on which helmer John Sturges’s 1960 western in question was based. For now though, it’s Sturges’s movie in the headlines and Training Day trio, stars Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke and director Antoine Fuqua tapped to work on the film along with The Equalizer co-star, actress Haley Bennett and actors Chris Pratt and (hopefully) Marvel’s Daredevil co-star, actor Vincent D’onofrio, and now with Moura joining in.

The new script from scribes John Lee Hancock and Nic Pizzolatto will center on Bennett‘s role as a grieving widow who hires a disparate group of bounty hunter to avenge her husband’s death at the hands of a rutheless gold-mining baron, offering them enough money to split seven ways to get the job done. Sony has since planted a flag for the film’s release date of January 13, 2017 on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

In the meantime, Moura can be seen this August in Netflix’s upcoming series, Narcos, while Fuqua settles in this July with upcoming boxing drama, Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, in addition to (hopefully being the one to facilitate) a sequel to his September 2014 hit, The Equalizer, which Variety now reports has officially been greenlit by Sony as of this week for Washington to return to star.

Lots of work ahead. Keep your eyes peeled!

H/T: THR

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Haley Bennett Reunites With Washington And Fuqua For THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!

Last year’s go-around with the Denzel Washington/Antoine Fuqua hit pairing, The Equalizer, turned out some really amazing from its cast. One such performance came from supporting actress Haley Bennett who plays a friend to that of lead actress Chloe Grace Moretz in the story of a monastic former government operative whose fight for a young girl’s freedom from human traffickers turned into a sprawling one-man war against an entire criminal organization, and at the rate we’re going, we could very well see a sequel.

Before then, director Fuqua and our lead actor Washington are bound to rejoin for the production of The Magnificent Seven as of last June – a remake of the original 1960 classic western directed by John Sturges and starring Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen. Actor Chris Pratt was announced for a possible role in the film last December as well, and now, Deadline is reporting the film could very likely reunite Fuqua and Washington with actress Bennett for a leading role – a widow who hires a bounty hunter to avenge her husband’s death at the hands of a rutheless gold-mining baron, offering enough money to split seven ways with his men to get the job done.

As a noteworthy mention, Pratt‘s name is also one with major circulation in the year following his successful start at Marvel as Star Lord in Walt Disney Co.’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, with any number of roles now lining up in his direction, including Cowboy Ninja Viking and Friday’s Deadline report of his pick by Steven Spielberg for a reboot of Indiana Jones. Hopefully we’ll learn more about which will come first in the months ahead as 2015 grows itself into another busy and exciting year for movies!

Stay tuned for more info!

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SOUTHPAW Gets A Release Date

It seems these are trying times for the current preproduction of David Ayer‘s new anti-hero superflick, Suicide Squad as actor Jake Gyllenhaal has since declined to replace Tom Hardy for the role of Rick Flagg among the all-star cast. No need for worry though if boxing dramas are more your speed and you’re eager to see the actor in something real soon, because his newest film, Southpaw is on the way, directed by Antoine Fuqua following stellar theatrical run with The Equalizer last September.

Written by Kurt Sutter and Richard Wenk, Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope, a young, cocky middleweight champion whose promising career and life as a family man are cut short when tragedy strikes, throwing him in a downward spiral with only the help of an amateur trainer with demons of his own, to help him get back on his feet. Much to the film’s credit, Gyllenhaal‘s previous performance in last year’s Nightcrawler has gained him some ample recognition which should undoubtedly make Southpaw a contender considering how much the actor immersed himself in this particular role, and if you’ve seen the photo, it clearly shows.

As such, Deadline is reporting the film’s official release now set for July 31, 2015 courtesy of The Weinstein Company. Gyllenhaal will be joined by actor Forest Whitaker and actress Rachel McAdams along with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Rita Ora, Naomie Harris and Victor Ortiz co-star. Stay tuned for more info^

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Check Out A New Clip And More For THE EQUALIZER!

Yahoo! Movies has a brand new poster and clip for the upcoming September 26, 2014 release of the new action thriller, The Equalizer, from Sony Pictures. The film is also getting an IMAX, and a sequel has already greenlit following positive feedback from early test screenings, so I’m already sold.

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Eminem And Sia Grace The Sizzling New Trailer For THE EQUALIZER

Actor Denzel Washington is getting some more screentime this week with a new trailer for the upcoming release of director Antoine Fuqua‘s new action thriller, The Equalizer, based on the hit TV series of the same name. The new trailer contains a little bit more footage revealing some extra goodies filmgoers can expect when it releases this Fall on September 26, including the arrival of a new song performed by hip-hop artist Eminem, accompanied with vocals by singer, Sia.

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MGM Reteams Washington And Fuqua For THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

MGM Reteams Washington And Fuqua For THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Director Antoine Fuqua is having a pretty good year in film, with The Equalizer on deck for a Fall release and a sequel in the works. In addition to his attachment to producer Ridley Scott’s new crime thriller, Narco Sub, Fuqua is also posied to helm a theatrical remake of the classic Western, The Magnificent Seven.

Well, MGM is noticing a pattern nowadays, one which has much to do with the seemingly lucrative partnership between Fuqua and actor Denzel Washington since their memorable work on the 2001 crime drama, Training Day. Plus, with all the buzz now surrounding the duo’s work on The Equalizer, it’s understandable the studio would adhere to the excitement and are now looking to cast Washington in the remake.

The original 1960 film from director John Sturges that saw actors Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen leading a grizzled cast of tough gunslingers protecting a defenseless agricultural village from marauding native bandits. The film was also a Western cinematic nod to Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 period adventure, Seven Samurai, and was inducted into the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for preservation last year.

No word yet on when filming will commense for the remake as Fuqua is currently set to direct boxing drama, Southpaw as of March.

The Equalizer will release on September 26, 2014.

H/T: Variety

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Watch The New Trailer For THE EQUALIZER

After several months of slowly disseminating set pics and stills, Sony/Columbia recently began ramping up promitional efforts for director Antoine Fuqua‘s latest film, The Equalizer, loosely based on the original 1985-1989 TV series starring the late Edward Woodward. As such, the film granted the public with a brand new poster of the film just last week, which you can take a look at below:

Aside from other usual action tropes, the film is poised to be one of the more physically demanding roles that lead actor Denzel Washington (Man On Fire, 2 Guns, The Book Of Eli) endured in preparation for the titular role, as so illustrated by Fuqua of Washington‘s “sustained intensity” and minimal use of firearms in Washington’s featured action sequences. “He really hits those mitts,” Fuqua tells USA Today. “And you imagine what he’ll do to you. You might underestimate him. That’s your first mistake.” Fuqua then adds “His hand-to-hand work is pretty nasty when the monster comes out, …We used what was around him. You’d be surprised what he can do with a corkscrew. You’ll never open a bottle of wine the same way again.”

The film reunites Fuqua with Washington since their previous pairing on the award-winning 2001 crime drama, Training Day, and might do so again now that approving test audiences have already granted The Equalizer a sequel with franchise potential similar to Liam Neeson’s Taken trilogy. Despite this, as always, this will depend on how this one performs at the box office. “The audience will decide that,” Washington tells USA Today. “You can’t make No. 2 before you make No. 1. It’s called show business. We’ve handled the show part of it. We’ll see how the business part goes.”.

The Equalizer evens the score in theaters on September 26, 2014. Watch the trailer and stay tuned for more news ahead.

SYNOPSIS:

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

H/T: Indiewire/Shadow And Act, USA Today, Yahoo! Movies

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