Trivia / The Magnificent Seven (2016)

• Actor-Inspired Element: The idea for Billy Rocks to throw a hairpin during his Establishing Character Moment came from Byung-hun Lee (it was originally a knife).
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • Ethan Hawke has admitted that he wasn't interested in joining the film until after he found out Byung-hun Lee was cast as Billy and that getting to work with Lee was his primary reason for doing so.
  • Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt signed on because they both wanted to do a Western.
  • A composer example. James Horner loved the script so much he had the score finished during pre-production.
• Billing Displacement: Matt Bomer is listed in the opening credits, despite being killed off in the first scene. Cam Gigandet has more screen time and is not.
• California Doubling: Filming was done in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It had to be re-landscaped to look like the Old West.
• The Cast Showoff: Chris Pratt really is a skilled card magician.
• The Danza: Matt Bomer as Matthew Cullen.
• Executive Meddling: Antoine Fuqua revealed in an interview was written and shot with an R-rating in mind but “a head at MGM” made Fuqua change it to PG-13.
• Fake Nationality: A notable aversion (mostly), for a Western anyway.
  • Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is Mexican, like Vasquez.
  • Martin Sensmeier is Native, though he is Native Alaskan (of Tlingit, Koyukon-Athabascan, and Irish descent) rather than Comanche like Red Harvest.
  • Jonathan Joss who plays Denali is also Native, and he does have Comanche ancestry as well Spanish and White Mountain Apache.
  • Played straight with Billy Rocks. He is a Chinese character but portrayed by South Korean actor, Lee Byung Hun.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Jack Horne's cabin was also in True Grit.
• Production Posse: Antoine Fuqua had worked with Denzel Washington on Training Day and The Equalizer, and Ethan Hawke on Training Day and Brooklyn's Finest (Which also featured Vincent D'Onofrio). Haley Bennett had also starred in The Equalizer, too.
• Promoted Fanboy: The original film was Antoine Fuqua's favourite as a young boy, and he once said he'd love to do a remake.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Red Harvest was supposed to have long hair and Martin Sensmeier had his at knee length when he auditioned. Not realising he was cast partly because of the hair, he cut it short before filming. They then gave Red Harvest a mohawk instead.
• Saved from Development Hell: The film was reported to be in the planning stages in 2012, with Tom Cruise set to star, and Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Matt Damon also up for roles.
• Shrug of God: Director Antoine Fuqua quite openly took this approach to some of the questions about the movie, stating he encouraged viewers to draw their own conclusions about things like some characters' backstories, Chisolm's experiences with racism or the exact nature of the relationship between Goodnight and Billy.
• Star-Making Role: This was released alongside The Girl on the Train, also featuring Haley Bennett in a significant role. Both films immediately got her lots of attention and press.
• Throw It In!:
  • Martin Sensmeier had knee-length hair when he auditioned. Not knowing that he was cast mainly for that, he cut it short afterwards. They then decided to give Red Harvest a mohawk instead.
  • Vasquez's cool Gun Twirling came from the fact that Manuel Garcia-Rulfo turned out to have a knack for it among all the actors, so Antoine Fuqua just kept filming during one particularly elaborate sequence.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jason Momoa was originally set to star in the film, but had to drop out due to commitments to Aquaman.
  • All the actors the studio recommended for the parts were white. Antoine Fuqua opted to diversify the cast to represent people of different backgrounds coming together for a common cause.
  • Fuqua wanted Chris Pratt in the film from the beginning, but couldn't work out who he would play. After a couple of phone calls with Chris, he realised how similar he was to Steve McQueen (actor) and cast him as the character based on Vin.
  • Tom Sizemore was considered for the role of Jack Horne.
  • Christian Bale was approached for a role. Tom Cruise was previously in talks to star. Kevin Costner, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman were also considered for parts.
• Word of Saint Paul:
  • Byung-hun Lee filled in Billy's backstory in an interview. He was an indentured servant who killed his masters and ran, met Goodnight when he was trying to collect the bounty on him but who decided to befriend him rather than take him in, and they became a team with Billy getting into Quick Draw fights with gunmen and Goodnight betting on him to earn money.
  • Martin Sensmeier also offered a backstory for Red Harvest in an interview. The Comanche had already been forced into the Fort Sill reservation in Lawton, Oklahoma by 1879, but Red Harvest has clearly ended up on his own instead, and that's why he's around to join up with the others.
  • Comments from Jonathan Joss hint that Denali has a Dark and Troubled Past that has haunted him to the point where he can only express himself through anger.
  • Peter Sarsgaard has stated that Bogue had an unspecified terminal illness, which contributed to his generally Ax-Crazy mindset.

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