FILM · 2016 · USA
The Magnificent Seven
33 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (33)
- #001
Chris Pratt's character tells the story of a man who falls from a five-story building, with people on each floor hearing him say, "So far, so good." This is a tribute to Steve McQueen's character in the original The Magnificent Seven (1960), who told the same story, except that his building had ten stories.
- #002
James Horner worked on this film after becoming close friends with Antoine Fuqua during the shooting of Southpaw (2015). According to Fuqua, Horner's team visited him on the set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a month after Horner's accidental death to present the completed score. Horner had been so inspired after reading the script that he composed all of the music during pre-production.
- #003
According to director Antoine Fuqua, Martin Sensmeier was cast as Red Harvest because he showed up to the audition with thick, nearly knee-length hair. Sensmeier was not told that his hair was a selling point and soon cut it. Fuqua was upset, and then the idea emerged for Sensmeier to cut his hair into a Mohawk.
- #004
The characters use explosives manufactured by the Giant Powder Company of San Francisco. The company began operations in 1868 as America's first dynamite manufacturer, under a special license granted personally by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
- #005
The character name "Red Harvest" is a tribute to Dashiell Hammett's story of the same name, which Akira Kurosawa borrowed for the plot of his other great samurai tale, Yojimbo (1961). Kurosawa wrote and directed Seven Samurai (1954), on which The Magnificent Seven (1960) was based. The Red Harvest plot also served as the model for A Fistful of Dollars (1964).
- #006
The horse Chris Pratt rides in this film also appeared in War Horse (2011).
- #007
The cabin where Jack Horne lives also appears in True Grit (2010), where Cogburn throws Native Americans off the balcony.
- #008
In the film, Vasquez calls Faraday "güero" or "güerito." It is a term used in Mexico to describe people with light or blond hair.
- #009
Antoine Fuqua met with studio executives to review the film's cast, but was unhappy that all the actors being considered by the studio were white. He felt that audiences could identify with characters from a wide range of backgrounds who come together for a common cause.
- #010
Some areas of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where filming took place, had to be rearranged to resemble the "Old West." In reality, Rose Creek was located near Jackson, Louisiana, about 55 miles north of Baton Rouge.
- #011
From the moment Faraday rides off on his horse, various musical phrases from the original film's theme song are heard, but on different instruments and only the first nine familiar notes. The full original theme song, sometimes also called the Marlboro commercial song, plays at the end of the title sequence.
- #012
Denzel Washington's first western.
- #013
The roughly 1880 setting of this film means that $20.00 at the time is equivalent to $688.00 in today's money.
- #014
Bartholomew Bogue is both the first person to kill and the last person to be killed in the film.
- #015
James Horner wrote only seven pieces for the film.
- #016
This is Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke's third collaboration with Antoine Fuqua since Training Day (2001). Hawke shared the lead in Brooklyn's Finest (2009), and Washington starred in The Equalizer (2014).
- #017
Although this film is not a direct remake of The Magnificent Seven (1960) and the characters have different names, parallels can be drawn between them. Chris and Sam are both team leaders and hired guns who wear black. Vin and Faraday are both broke gambling drifters. Lee was a sharpshooter suffering from PTSD, similar to Robicheaux. Britt is a deadly knife fighter like Billy Rocks. Vasquez and Chico are both Mexican, but Chico was far less experienced. Bernado O'Reilly resembles a Native American like Red Harvest. Harry is a big, imposing man much like Jack Horne.
- #018
In his youth, Antoine Fuqua was inspired to become a filmmaker after watching two films, The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Scarface (1983). He once said that if he had a plan, he would lobby to remake these films. Fortunately he got his chance; after leaving his post as co-chairman of MGM, producer Roger Birnbaum wanted to make the remake and said that the original film and its characters underscored the theme of mortality that he embraced after surviving a gastrointestinal tumor.
- #019
Jason Momoa was originally set to appear in the film. He dropped out due to his commitment to Aquaman (2018).
- #020
The final screenplay credit lists Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk as the credited writers. John Lee Hancock largely rewrote Pizzolatto's script, but was denied writing credit by the WGA.
- #021
Wagner Moura was initially cast as Vasquez. The role was recast because he was committed to filming Narcos (2015), in which he played Pablo Escobar.
- #022
During filming in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, temperatures on the film's set sometimes rose to 104° Fahrenheit. The highest temperature ever recorded in Louisiana is 105°F.
- #023
When the Seven open the warehouse full of explosives, Faraday foreshadows his own death by saying, "I've always wanted to blow something up."
- #024
On the way to a mining camp, a US flag with 37 stars is seen. It has two rows of 8 (top and bottom) centered between two 8s, and three rows of 7. By law, a star is added to the US flag on July 4 following a state's admission to the Union. This flag represents the admission of Nebraska, marking 37 states. It is important to note that no American flag ever becomes obsolete. This flag is still a legal flag and may be flown at any time. This flag configuration would be flown until 1876, when Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.
- #025
This was the second Denzel Washington film based on the work of Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai (1954)/The Magnificent Seven (1960)). The first was Courage Under Fire (1996), which took its main story element from Rashomon (1950).
- #026
Robert Vaughn died a few weeks after the film's US release.
- #027
Walter Mirisch was one of Hollywood's most successful independent producers in the 1960s. He worked with Yul Brynner, producer Lou Morheim, director John Sturges and screenwriter Walter Newman on the American remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954). Decades after its release, Mirisch still held The Magnificent Seven (1960) in great esteem.
- #028
The Magnificent Seven remake shares its plot with earlier westerns such as El Dorado (1966) and Pale Rider (1985); in all three films the main villains are corrupt businessmen/land barons and their henchmen who terrorize small towns into giving up their land, and a stranger helps them and builds up their resistance.
- #029
Brian De Palma was developing a remake of The Magnificent Seven (1960) in the 1990s. It was set in the present day and involved the Medellín Cartel.
- #030
This was Chris Pratt's first western film.
- #031
Christian Bale was approached for a role.
- #032
James Horner composed the score for Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), a futuristic remake of Seven Samurai (1954), which itself was remade as The Magnificent Seven (1960).
- #033
Chris Pratt and Vincent D'Onofrio both appeared in Jurassic World (2015). Pratt played Owen, and D'Onofrio played Hoskins.
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