Ethan Hawke reveals a five-hour cut of The Magnificent Seven remake exists and expresses his hopes that it can be released. The 2016 film served as a new adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s iconic 1954 film Seven Samurai and the 1960 Western remake The Magnificent Seven, with Training Day and The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua taking the helm on a script from True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto and The Equalizer‘s Richard Wenk. The story centers on Sam Chisholm, a United States Marshal warrant officer who gathers the titular group of men to defend a small town from a corrupt industrialist forcing the local residents to work in a mine for cheap.
Denzel Washington led the star-studded cast of The Magnificent Seven remake alongside Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard and Haley Bennett. Hitting theaters in late 2016, the film scored generally mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, with praise directed towards Fuqua’s direction, the action sequences, the performances of its cast and the final score from two-time Oscar winner James Horner, while criticism was aimed at its story and screenplay. In spite of its mixed reception, The Magnificent Seven proved a modest box office success, grossing over $162 million against its $90 million production budget.
In honor of his upcoming Hulu miniseries about the L.A. Lakers, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Antoine Fuqua and his frequent collaborators for a career-spanning feature. When talking to Ethan Hawke, the actor praised his director for his efforts on The Magnificent Seven movie remake and teased his hopes for a five-hour cut of the film to be released. See what Hawke said below:
“In some ways, I see all his films as a collective scream against authority. 107 [degrees] in Louisiana and there were more studio execs [on set] than our 100-person cast. He just put his head down and made his movie. I still beg him to release the five-hour cut of that film.”
Though no word has ever really been given about The Magnificent Seven remake’s five-hour cut existing before, there have been prior indications of excised footage from the Western movie. While promoting The Equalizer 2 a few years ago, Fuqua indicated that he had to trim the film down in order to meet the PG-13 rating the executives at MGM wanted for the film, indicating the studio wanted to ensure they got their money back and capitalize on a younger audience being drawn to theaters for its ensemble cast, especially Chris Pratt, who was riding his early wave of success as a blockbuster star with Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World. Additionally, The Magnificent Seven‘s Blu-ray release included seven-and-a-half minutes of deleted scenes, leaving some to wonder if other extra footage was left on the cutting room floor.
While Hawke, who has worked with Fuqua three times, may be eager to see The Magnificent Seven remake’s five-hour cut released, audiences may not be as keen on the idea. Though both scored critical acclaim, the longer runtimes of Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune largely divided viewers, with some feeling the pacing and story weren’t enough to encompass their lengths, and given Fuqua’s Western remake didn’t fare the best with critics or audiences, it seems likely the longer cut won’t see the light of day anytime in the near future. In the meantime, audiences can look forward to Fuqua’s next directorial effort with the Will Smith-starring Emancipation slated for a 2023 release.
