Jason Momoa Joins ‘Magnificent Seven’ Remake
Ever sinceTraining DaydirectorAntoine Fuquawasconfirmed to directDenzel Washingtonin a remake ofThe Magnificent Sevenat MGM, we’ve seen an impressive cast assembling as the titular band of gunslingers.Chris PrattandTraining Dayco-starEthan Hawkeare justa coupleofthe talentson board, and now the cast has gotten even bigger asGame of Thronesstar and DC Comics' future cinematic AquamanJason MomoajoinsMagnificent Seven.
THRreports Momoa is currently in talks to play one of the villains, though not the primary antagonist. The main bad guy is said to be a robber baron, which was reported to be the roleVincent D’Onofriohad in the remake. D’Onofrio, however, debunked that report and clarified that he’s one of the seven heroes.
For those who don’t know,Magnificent Sevenis a remake of a 1960 film which starred Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Robert Vaughn. (That film was itself a remake ofSeven Samurai.) But while this is a remake, the characters in this new version won’t be strictly based on those from the original.
With a script fromNic Pizzolatto(True Detective), rewritten byJohn Lee Hancock(The Blind Side), the newMagnificent Seventakes place shortly after the Civil War, in a town threatened by a ruthless gold mining baron and his thugs. The widow (Bennett) of one of their victims decides she’s had enough of these thugs, so she hires a bounty hunter (Washington), who rounds up six more gunslingers to help defend the town.
Momoa joins a cast that also includesWagner Moura(Elysium),Luke Grimes(American Sniper) andHaley Bennett(The Equalizer). Moura, Pratt, Washington, D’Onofrio and Hawke have all been confirmed to be part of the title gang, but it’s not clear if Grimes and Bennett round out the group or not.
Production begins in May and MGM has the film set for release on January 13th, 2017.
UPDATE:Deadlineis also reporting thatG.I. Joefranchise star and this summer’sTerminator: GenisysvillainByung-hun Leehas landed a role in the film as well. The South Korean actor will be playing a character named Billy Rocks. There could be more casting updates around the corner so stay tuned.
