Seven Still Magnificent

Scottish author and columnist for Cinema Retro magazine Brian Hannan has recently published an outstanding, well-illustrated book The Making of the Magnificent Seven: Behind the Scenes of the Pivotal Western (McFarland, $45). Hannan’s timing could not be better as M-G-M/Village Roadshow is in post-production of a remake of the 1960 Western classic. Anyone who is a fan of the film will love Hannan’s comprehensive research on the United Artist film, the director John Sturges, the politics in cinema in the late 1950s, the casting and the screenwriters’ adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai. Hannan also provides numerous insights into the casting, personalities and rivalries of the cast, including Yul Bryner, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson and James Coburn.

Sony Entertainment has scheduled the much-anticipated remake starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Luke Grimes, Wagner Moura, Haley Bennett, Matt Bomer and Peter Sarsgaard to open in theaters on September 23, 2016.