Here’s an important thing to know about Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven: it’s commerce. This is not a movie trying to be Django Unchained or redefine the Western as a genre. This is a layup of stars and big gunfights and snappy banter, which is wise because as storied as the genre is it’s very difficult to turn a profit with a Western. The Magnificent Seven has been remade plenty and is itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s seminal The Seven Samurai. As properties go, it’s far from sacred.
As a result, seeing Denzel Washington, Chriss Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio amongst the faces battling the villainous Peter Sarsgaard (of course he’s the bad guy) just warms the heart. Here’s the first teaser for what bodes to be one of the shining releases of September 2016.