MGM is ready to saddle up with a new adaptation of the classic Western, The Magnificent Seven, from Heroes and Touch creator Tim Kring. The eight-episode series will be heading to MGM+ and is set to begin filming in June 2026. A previous iteration of the project was originally set with True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto following up his 2016 remake of the film, but was abandoned by Amazon at the time. Now, it looks like Amazon-owned MGM+ will be taking over the reins with a new take on the idea.
“Tim Kring is a master storyteller,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “Tim, Donald De Line, Larry Mirisch, and Bruce Kaufman have crafted a series that delivers the energy of a classic Western, honors the legacy of the original film, and reasserts its timeless themes of the power of unity against oppression and flawed heroes finding redemption by helping those who can’t help themselves.”
The series will feature a similar set-up to the movie that came before it, focusing on a group of mercenaries in the 1880s American frontier who are hired to protect a village after a land baron sends in his hired guns to kill many of the villagers. The long-form retelling of the story will take a deep dive into each of the seven characters, exploring their motivations and reasons for taking on their mission to defend a Quaker community that is very much against the violence they may need to use to keep the village safe.
'The Magnificent Seven' Has a Long Hollywood History
Sam fires a pistol in The Magnificent Seven
Sony Pictures Relelasing
While this new TV series may seem a unique addition to the franchise, it has been done before, with a CBS network series that ran from 1998 to 2000. Obviously, 25 years on, there is now a new audience out there that have probably never watched that series, and its position on MGM+ will give it a much wider audience than that series ever gained.
Of course, The Magnificent Seven has been adapted multiple times on the big screen. John Sturges’ 1960 film (itself a reworking of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai) is the most memorable and the best take on the story. While the film holds 89% and 87 scores from critics and audiences respectively on Rotten Tomatoes, it is considered one of the greatest Westerns of all time. That film employs a strong cast of Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and Horst Buchholz. The film spawned several sequels, the last being The Magnificent Seven Ride! in 1972.
In 2016, Antoine Fuqua brought together another stunning cast of Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, and Peter Sarsgaard. The film was most notable as the final movie to feature music by composer James Horner, who died the previous year before the movie was completed, with the remainder of the film being scored by Simon Franglen. The movie scored a mixed set of reviews, but drew in a reasonable $162 million box office from its $90 million budget.
