Tag: Magnificent Seven

Cast Introduction: The New Magnificent 7 … plus One

Cast Introduction:
The New Magnificent Seven

As they say: The atmosphere is electric.

But I hate these tuxedo affairs.

DAMN! I just spilt some wine on my boots.

“Oh Hi Mickey”

Rourke. … Everybody is here.

OOP – The lights are going down … better get to my seat.
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“Ladeeeez and Gentlemen!!!”
… announces a disembodied voice:

“Introducing your “NEW MAGNIFICENT SEVEN !!!“

Generous Applause …
Hopeful enthusiasm … tinged with fear.

Mine.

“Reprising the main role of Chris made famous by Yul Brynner …”

“TOM CRUISE !!!”

Brynner - Cruise

Whoa !!! Tom gets some large appreciation.
No problem.
But his selection was already out of the bag.

Tom take a bow … waves … flashes his famous grin.

“Tom’s role by default”, I’m thinking.
He’s good though. Sometimes great.
But the inevitable comparisons with (Yul Brynner)
It’s tough.

“No matter” I mumble, “I think he’s up to it.”
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Moving along …

“Ladies and Gentlemen!!”

“Reprising the role of Vin Tanner played formerly by Steve McQueen … “

“VIGGO MORTENSEN !!!”

Steve McQueen - Viggo Mortenson

I notice people sitting forward in their seats.
Nodding … yeah … YEAH !
Lots of applause … LOTS.
Viggo is popular.

Viggo looks dapper, casual … salutes.

“VIggo as Vin” I say.
(I think I aced that one)

… 5 to go.
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Next …

“Ladies and Gentlemen!!”

“Reprising the role of Britt that was played by James Coburn … “

“GUY PEARCE!!!”

James Coburn - Guy Pearce

“OH !”  “I love Guy.” I hear Spielberg’s wife exclaim.
Steven nods. “Yes … yes. That should work very well.”

Guy is welcomed … tanned and grinning.

I feel a swell of growing enthusiasm.

Things seem to be working.

But I’m still sweating.
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Next …

“Ladies and Gentlemen !!!!”

“Reprising the role of Bernardo O’Reilly which was played by the very popular Charles Bronson … “

“WILLEN DAFOE!!!”

Charles Bronson - Willem Dafoe
“Holy Crap !!!” I hear Matt Damon shout … rising from his seat …
“This is gonna be one a hell of a movie!
Wish I was in it”

Willem shakes hands with Tom, Viggo, Guy … waves …

“Yaaa !!! Yeahhh !!!” I yell.
I can’t help it.

A lot of people are standing now …
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Next intro …

“Ladies and Gentlemen!!

“Hot, from his role as the Villain in Star Trek ,,, and playing the role of Lee made famous by Robert Vaughn … “

“BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH !!!”

Vaughn - Cumberbach

*silence* … a gasp or two !!
“Well I’ll be damned !!” says Harrison Ford.
“How the hell did they get him !?”
“Inspired.”

Excited applause arises … Ringing !

Cumberbatch is dapper, unscarved.

… I wasn’t too sure …

“Way to go Ben” !!!
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The next intro …

“Ladies and Gentlemen!!

“Reprising the part of Harry Luck that was played by Brad Dexter … “

“BRENDAN FRASER !!!”

Brad Dexter - Brendan Fraser

“Wooo hooo” … I hear Sly yelp. “Nice call!”
“Make it sing Brendan!”

Fraser throws his cowboy hat into the crowd.

“YEAH !! YEAH !!”

I can’t believe it …

It rocks !
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Next intro …

“And now Ladies and Gentlemen!!”

“The last of the Seven … “

“Reprising the role of Chico that was performed by Horst Buchholz … “

“AARON PAUL !!!”

Horst Buchholz - Aaron Paul

Aaron runs onto the stage …

The joy is high.

The SEVEN are complete !!

Everybody’s standing now …
OVATION … !!!

The New SEVEN take a bow …
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“And Lastly” … intones the MC, above the din …

… Ladies and Gentlemen …. “

“Reprising the part of the Mexican Bandito Calvera – formerly played by the great Eli Wallach … “

“ANTONIO BANDERAS !!!”

Eli Wallach - Antonio Banderas

“O My …. Goodness !”
shouts Gene Hackman.
“Way to go Tony !!!”

Antonio has his hair slicked back. Looks a bit shy.
… takes a mock poke from Fraser.

Thunderous applause !!!

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All is well.
____________________________________________________

“Whew!”

I slump into my chair

“Monsieur JC …?”

I turn.
A waiter hands me a bottle of Canadian Club.
“Complements of Monsieur Cruise.”

The tag reads:

“Mission accomplished”
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I just hope my cheque is in the mail.
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The Magnificent Seven … ??? Casting Chris …

“I never rode shotgun on a hearse before.”
– Steve McQueen / The Magnificent Seven

MFW Banner

I could very easily understand it if Tom Cruise’s rumoured remake of The Magnificent Seven never hits the dusty trail. Though you can surely bet that they want to make this movie … and you can surely bet that Western Fans are very interested (there’s a ready-made market out here).

BUT …

The same problems that plague (and guns down) most remakes (of any genre) are in strong evidence:

Mainly, THEY DON’T HAVE THE PEOPLE. Oh yeah, they’ve got all the modern production values … the money … and special effects … etc. BUT … where (oh where) do you find a Director like John Sturges (Gunfight at the OK Corral. Last Train from Gun Hill; Hour of the Gun; Bad Day at Black Rock; Joe Kidd; The Law and Jake Wade, etc) ? or (an inspired script) writing like the previous movie … AND (most importantly) THE CAST to match the previously (great) movie – a Western Classic: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach. Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz …

The horrible reality  is … you can’t.

For starters, where do you find a Yul Brynner ????

There ain’t any. He was one of a kind. The Man.

Do you see anybody around who can fill those boots ??

I don’t. But I don’t know everything.

So … OK … let’s not give up so easily. Let’s suppose that these nagging points aren’t going to discourage Tom – and he is planning to go ahead – as I’m sure he will.

Let’s play movie maker then … Casting Director … and try to pull this off.

Here we go …

Number 1: Casting Chris 

YUL BRUNNER 2

This is going to be the hardest role to cast. It makes or breaks the movie even before it hits the screen … or the fan.
I’m supposing (if this really is Tom Cruise‘s project) that Tom is considering playing Yul Brynner‘s role as Chris.

Yeah.

Will that work? Can he pull it off? Mission impossible?

You know, I like Tom Cruise as an actor. Most of his stuff is pretty good – and entertaining.

BUT … really.

Yul Brynner - Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise
Yul Time

Hmmm. But maybe Tom will look things over
and decide to cast somebody else here.
???

or will he bravely shave his head and brazenly ride forward !?!
???

IF he does decide to cast someone else here …
then who ??

Is there a Star around with the charisma, power and presence of Yul Brynner ??

 What do you think ??

THE MAGNIFICENT 7 riding
Whoa !

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Let’s see you part this sea Amigo!

East / West remakes … a film tradition …

There’s Remakes … and then there’s this:

In Yurusarezaru mono – a Japanese remake/adaptation of Clint Eastwood‘s iconic Western, Unforgiven (1992) we discover a cinematic tradition of Remakes that goes back a ways … pardner.

Legendary Westerns film Director John Sturges‘* The Magnificent Seven (1960) is well known to have borrowed from Japanese Director/Film maker Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai.

seven samurai - poster
Seven Samurai / 1954 / Akira Kurosawa
akira kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
The Magnificent Seven - 1960 - poster
The Magnificent Seven / 1960 / John Sturges
John Sturges - Director
John Sturges – Director

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Seven Samurai / Akira Kurosawa
Seven Samurai / Akira Kurosawa
The Magnificent Seven - 1960
The Magnificent Seven – 1960

In fact, the ‘borrowing’ of themes and story lines between the Orient and the West is sometimes so inbred and intertwined that it’s hard to know who started what … and where???

In this outstanding article/research by Kristen Brennan we see just how deep the rabbit hole goes:

Excerpts: “Kurosawa Films” http://moongadget.com/origins/kurosawa.html

” … many elements from Kurosawa‘s work remain, including the two bickering peasants (who evolved into the droids – C3P0 and R2D2), elements of the Obi-Wan/Luke relationship and the queen who often switches places with her handmaiden. The Darth Vader-like evil general who has a change of heart at the end wears a kamon (commonly called simply a “mon”, a Japanese family crest) that looks very similar to the Imperial Crest.”

“Star Wars borrows a lot of great stuff from Yojimbo, (Akira Kurosawa film) including the cantina scene: several men threaten the hero, bragging how wanted they are by authorities. There’s a flash of blade and suddenly an arm lies on the ground. Mifune is offered “25 ryo now, 25 when you complete the mission.” (A ryo is a gold coin.) Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who played Boba Fett, said the character was based on Clint Eastwood’s version of The Man With No Name. You can hear a little cowboy-spur jingle when Fett enters the dining room in The Empire Strikes Back, soft and subtle enough that it’s probably meant to trigger our emotional association with the character without our conscious awareness.”

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MFW: Speaking of Remakes: we’re still waiting for ANY news about Tom Cruise‘s “The Magnificent Seven” Remake. Not a peep has been heard in months. I’m guessing Cruise is waiting on the Writing – which has to be excellent – and trying to figure out the ALL IMPORTANT casting – which has to somehow match (if that’s possible) the cast from the original movie: Yul Brunner, Steve Mcqueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz – most of whom enjoyed superstar film careers. No word yet if Cruise is (wisely) attempting to get the rights to the original magnificent sound track theme music by Elmer Bernstein.

The rumor mills are churning and you can bet that there are many actors campaigning and begging Cruise for a part of the action.

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Yurusarezaru Mono Poster 3
Yurusarezaru Mono Posters

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*John Sturges Westerns:

Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) / Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) / Backlash (1956) / Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) / Saddle the Wind (1958) / The Law and Jake Wade (1958) / Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) / Sergeants 3 (1962) / The Hallelujah Trail (1965) / Hour of the Gun (1967) / Joe Kidd (1972) / Chino (1973)

Rumor of the Year Award: Proposed Magnificent 7 Casting:

Damon, Costner & Freeman joining Cruise in Magnificent Seven!?

Damon / Freeman / Costner

Damon / Freeman / Costner

As if Tom Cruise in a remake of “The Magnificent Seven” wasn’t interesting enough, consider this : Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner may be joining him.

If we can believe the somewhat unreliable British tabloids.

Continue reading “Rumor of the Year Award: Proposed Magnificent 7 Casting:”