True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto has been tapped to write and executive produce The Magnificent Seven, the previously-announced TV series in development at Amazon Studios and based on the beloved film from Amazon’s MGM library. The property is one of a number of MGM films that are due to be revived for film and television, as Amazon seeks to look beyond just James Bond and Rocky for IP they can mine from the MGM vault. According to Deadline, who broke the news today, Pizzolatto set out to create an original Western for Amazon Studios while Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) was developing The Magnificent Seven.
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Per the report, the original Western was supposed to center on “a former outlaw on an epic journey, assembling a gang while facing a threat from his past as he and his cohorts encounter danger along the way.” After management suggested that it would be an easier sell with existing IP attached, it “morphed” into The Magnificent Seven.
The report suggests that Johnson will remain on board as an executive producer, along with Lawrence Mirisch and Bruce Kaufman.
Obvioulsy it’s early days, but here’s what Deadline has in terms of an official synopsis for The Magnificent Seven series: “In the tradition of the great epics from the golden age of westerns, an outlaw and his cohorts must unite a disparate band of indelible fighters to defend a settlement of immigrant homesteaders in an open range war against cattle barons in central Texas, telling an expansive saga of adventure, action and romance.”
While most audiences only really think about the 1960 original, The Magnificent Seven spawned three sequels, a TV show (which ran from 1998 until 2000), and a 2016 big-screen remake. The 1960 film, which was directed by John Sturges, starred Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, and Steve McQueen, among others. The movie was an Americanization of Seven Samurai, the acclaimed Japanese film from director Akira Kurosawa.
The 2016 movie, which was written by Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk, starred Denzel Washington alongisde Marvel stars Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Washington, Wenk, and The Magnificent Seven director Antoine Fuqua are reteaming for a third Equalizer movie later this year, which just released a new poster earlier today.
