Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for Training Day director Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven, and our first look at the much-anticipated remake of the Western classic suggests that the film is aping the original in all the right ways.
The Magnificent Seven reunites Fuqua with his Training Day and The Equalizer star Denzel Washington, and tells the story of a group of misfit mercenaries who are recruited to defend a town from a ruthless band of outlaws. Much like director John Sturges’ 1960 original — which was itself based on legendary director Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai — The Magnificent Seven features an all-star cast of familiar faces portraying both the ragtag group of mercenaries and the villains tormenting the town.
Along with Washington in the role of Sam Chisolm, the film also stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Josh Farraday, Ethan Hawke (Gattaca) as Goodnight Robicheaux, Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil) as Jack Horne, Byung-Hun Lee (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) as Billy Rocks, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (Cake) as Vasquez, and Martin Sensmeier (Lilin’s Brood) as Red Harvest. The cast also includes Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead) as the industrialist Bartholomew Bogue, as well as Haley Bennett (The Equalizer), Matt Bomer (White Collar), Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand), and Cam Gigandet (Pandorum) in supporting roles.
There’s more star power behind the camera, too. True Detective screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto penned the script for the film with The Equalizer screenwriter Richard Wenk and The Blind Side screenwriter John Lee Hancock.
The original version of the film famously starred Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Robert Vaughn, with Eli Wallach playing the villain. That film earned an Academy Award nomination for Elmer Bernstein’s score, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Vaughn.
The Magnificent Seven is scheduled to hit theaters September 23.
