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Spoilers (2)
The horse that Chris Pratt rode in this film was the star of War Horse (2011).
One of the few Western movies where an actor's ethnicity matches their character's. 'Martin Sensmeier' is Native Alaskan (Tlingit). Manuel Garcia-Rulfo was born in Guadalajara, Mexico.
This was James Horner's final composition before his death on June 22, 2015 at the age of 61.
James Horner collaborated on this film after he and Antoine Fuqua became close friends while making Southpaw (2015). According to Fuqua, Horner's team visited him on the film's set in Baton Rouge, one month after Horner's accidental death, to deliver the completed score. Horner had been so inspired after reading the script that he composed the entire score during pre-production.
The joke "So Far So Good" told by Chris Pratt's character was also told by Steve McQueen's character in the The Magnificent Seven (1960).
The film is a remake of The Magnificent Seven (1960), which is itself a remake of Seven Samurai (1954).
Later in the movie, Chris Pratt uses a shortened lever action rifle. This unique firearm, the mare's leg, was made popular by Steve McQueen in his series Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958). Pratt's character is McQueen's character from the original movie.
James Horner only wrote seven pieces for the film.
Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke's third collaboration with director Antoine Fuqua since Training Day (2001); Hawke co-starred in Brooklyn's Finest (2009), and Washington starred in The Equalizer (2014).
Jason Momoa was originally going to appear in the film. He dropped out due to his commitment with Aquaman (2018).
Some areas of Baton Rouge, where filming took place, had to be re-landscaped to resemble the 'Old West'
Wagner Moura was originally cast as Vasquez. The role was recast because he was committed to film the Netflix show Narcos, where he plays Pablo Escobar.
Walter Mirisch was one of the most successful independent film producers in Hollywood in the 1960s. He worked alongside Yul Brynner, producer Lou Morheim, director John Sturges, and screenwriter Walter Newman to get Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) remade in America. Many decades after its release, Mirisch still holds The Magnificent Seven (1960) in high regard.
Christian Bale was approached about a role.
When Red Harvest first appears he speaks in Comanche, the language of his character. However when he states "my name is Red Harvest", he says this line in Tlingit, the language of Sensmeier's real Native people.
Haley Bennett and Denzel Washington both previously starred together in The Equalizer (2014) also directed by Antoine Fuqua.
This is Chris Pratt's first Western movie.
According to director Antoine Fuqua, one of the reasons that Martin Sensmeier was cast as Native American Red Harvest was that Sensmeier had luxuriant, almost knee-length hair when he auditioned. Not having been told that this had been a selling point, Sensemeier cut his hair shortly thereafter. Fuqua was originally upset, but then had the idea for Sensmeier to have his hair cut into a Mohawk, which fortunately also turned out to be historically accurate.
Ethan Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio previously starred together as brothers in The Newton Boys (1998).
Martin Sensmeier's character name Red Harvest is a homage the Dashiell Hammett story of the same name which Akira Kurosawa borrowed the story for his plot of his other great samurai tale Yojimbo (1961). Kurosawa wrote the movie Seven Samurai (1954) which The Magnificent Seven (1960) is based on.
Chris Pratt and Vincent D'Onofrio have both appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)) and D'onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Daredevil (2015))
Chris Pratt and Vincent D'Onofrio both starred in Jurassic World (2015). Pratt was Owen and D'Onofrio was Hoskins.
On March 29, 2015, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer set the film release for January 13, 2017. In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment moved the film release to September 23, 2016.
Antoine Fuqua's second PG-13 theatrical film.
Tom Cruise was previously in talks to star.
Chris Pratt's character tells a story of a guy falling off a five-story building. At every floor, the people hear him say "So far, so good". This is in direct homage to Steve McQueen's character on the original The Magnificent Seven (1960) telling the same story except it was a ten-story building.
In the original Westworld (1973), Yul Brynner's character was modeled after his character from the film The Magnificent Seven (1960). Chris Pratt appeared in Jurassic World (2015), which was also based on a story by Michael Crichton, about an amusement park gone wrong.
Ethan Hawke's second western of 2016. The first was In a Valley of Violence (2016).
Walter Mirish, the executive producer of this film, was already involved in the previous feature : Magnificent Seven, back in 1960.
This was Antoine Fuqua's first feature film where it has been rated M, instead of MA and R in his previous films.
This is Chris Pratt's second remake. His first remake was Delivery Man (2013).
This film marks the re-union of two sets of co-stars. Denzel Washington + Ethan Hawke (Training Day) and Chris Pratt + Vincent D'onofrio (Jurassic World). Ironically, while they all play heroes in this film, Denzel was the villain in Training Day with Ethan being the hero and D'onofrio was a villain in Jurassic World with Pratt being the hero.
Chris Pratt's earlier film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was about misfits (a thief, an assassin, 2 bounty hunters, and a vengeful warrior) who come together to stop an evil fanatic from wiping out the inhabitants of a planet. The Magnificent Seven (2016) is a similar film about characters who are bounty hunters, gunfighters and outlaws who join forces to help a village deal with another evil fanatic.
This is the second time Haley Bennett appear in the movie were using The Magnificent Seven (1960) theme. The first time was Hardcore Henry (2015).
The film reunites Denzel Washington with Ethan Hawke and Antoine Faqua whom Washington had worked with on Training Day (2001).
Ethan Hawke's 1st western he starred in 2016. The other film is In a Valley of Violence (2016). Karen Gillan whom stars in that film had starred opposite Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
Bogue's line, "If God didn't want them to be slaughtered, he wouldn't have made them sheep" echo's Calvera's "If God didn't want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep" in the 1960 version.
Spoilers
Chris Pratt appears in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), as well as Kurt Russell, whose father, Bing Russell appeared in The Magnificent Seven (1960).