John Lee Hancock, who just directed Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, has reportedly been hired by MGM to rewrite a remake of the classic Western The Magnificent Seven. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise has dropped out of the long-gestating project.
Cruise was first linked to the film back in May 2012. At the time, MGM began planning a roster of remakes of movies from its library. It has already remade Carrie and a Robocop reboot is slated for release in February.
However, since then, Cruise has taken on more projects and his schedule has gotten in the way. TheWrap reported Tuesday night that Cruise never planned on making the film immediately.
Back in August, Nic Pizzolatto was tapped to write the original draft. He was in the middle of developing True Detective, an HBO mini-series that debuts on Jan. 12.
Now, according to TheWrap, Hancock will take another look at the draft. He has worked with Disney on Saving Mr. Banks and the studio’s The Alamo, although that was a box office disappointment. His credits also include The Blind Side and is credited as a writer on Snow White and the Huntsman. He also contributed to the Maleficent script.
The Magnificent Seven was first released in 1960 and spawned several sequels and a TV series. It starred Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. Of course, the original film was a remake itself, based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.
image: Amazon