‘The Magnificent Seven’: Jason Momoa Drops Out Of Western Remake?

The Magnificent Seven stands as one of those timeless American classics. Based on the Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai, the movie follows seven gunmen and their struggle to protect a Mexican village from a gang of greedy bandits. The premise has been re-imagined numerous times, perhaps most notably by Pixar in the 1998 animated film A Bug’s Life. With such a flexible and relatable story, it’s a given that Magnificent Seven would be remade at some point, and with director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) attached, that time is now.

Magnificent Seven is a film that’s already boasting a great all-star cast. On-board to star in the film are Denzel Washington (Equalizer), Chris Pratt (Jurassic World), Ethan Hawke (The Purge), Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil), Byung-Hun Lee (Terminator: Genisys), and Matt Bomer (White Collar). Also slated to star is Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones) as one of the Magnificent Seven — at least, that was the case until recently. According to Deadline, Momoa may have recently dropped out of the picture. The reason? His character simply didn’t have enough to do. With an ensemble cast, there is always the struggle to give each character their moment to shine. It’s one of the main reasons it took something like The Avengers so long to come out. Given that each of these actors is talented enough to lead their own movie, it makes sense that they’d prefer to devote their time to a movie that features them more prominently, and pays them a higher salary.

This kind of thing isn’t unheard of. Suicide Squad is another upcoming ensemble picture, and following Tom Hardy’s dropping out of the movie, it was speculated that had to do with the limited amount of screen time Hardy’s character had. It’s also important to note, however, that Hardy’s since come out and confirmed his dropping out had more to do with scheduling than anything else, and there’s rarely just one factor in a decision like this. In fact, as far as Jason Momoa’s dropping out of Magnificent Seven goes, MGM/Sony are denying it has anything to do with his screen time or the number of lines he had in the script. At the same time, Momoa has also recently been cast as Aquaman, one of the founding members of the Justice League, in the DC Cinematic Universe. And with that in mind, why wouldn’t he look for more leading roles?

Either way, Magnificent Seven is currently out one gunman, and it’ll be interesting to see who they get to replace him.

[Image Credits: Fanboy Gaming, MovieWallpapers (via Schmoes Know)]