‘The Magnificent Seven’ Opens 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September; Director Antoine Fuqua Explains How Denzel Washington made Massive Impact on Diverse Casting

‘The Magnificent Seven’ is set to open this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on September to be held on September. Director Antoine Fuqua explained that Denzel Washington’s involvement left a massive impact on the film’s diverse casting.

According to Variety, Antoine Fuqua’s remake is set to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival scheduled on September. The film festival will run from September 8 through September 18, 2016.

Fuqua’s film is a remake of John Sturges’ western film of the same name, released on October 1960. Sturges’ film was in turn a remake of the 1954 Japanese epic historical drama film ‘Seven Samurai’ directed by the acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa.

Fuqua said during a brief video statement during the press conference announcing the TIFF lineup, “I can’t think of a better place or crowd for the film’s world premiere.” The 50-year old filmmaker is popular for his work on various action and thriller films including 1998’s ‘The Replacement Killers’, 2001’s ‘Training Day’, 2004’s ‘King Arthur’, 2007’s ‘Shooter’, and 2014’s ‘The Equalizer’.

According to CBC News, TIFF CEO Piers Handling welcomed Fuqua back to the festival as it is the director’s third time to premiere a film in the event. He said, "Fuqua has delivered an exciting character-driven film on a grand scale, while putting his own unique spin on the genre, making for a thrilling opening night."

The upcoming film is set to star Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-Hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard, and Haley Bennett. It follows a group of gunslingers hired to protect a small community from the control of a local industrialist and his lackeys.

According to Games Radar, Fuqua expressed excitement over casting Washington in the lead role as the bounty hunter and leader of the seven Sam Chisolm.

He said during an interview with Total Film, “It’s funny, when I was in a room with MGM and everyone we were just talking about the cast… Right away, we went down the list of actors... Denzel’s name wasn’t on that list. It was just a lot of actors. Most of them were white.”

Fuqua explained, ”I just said, ‘I think this movie needs an event. It needs something more than just the title. It needs to be something that everyone can grab on to. Denzel would be amazing as Yul Brynner, that character, coming over the hill in all-black and looking like a bad*ss...’”

He added, “It was like a hush went over the room. I got excited… I got that feeling in my stomach that he would make it special. And then the fact that he was black kind of came up in the room. I just think of him as a great actor. I didn’t think about colour. People asked me whether I was going to make an issue out of it. I said, ‘No. Let people who come to the theatres paint their own picture. You already know he’s black. I don’t need to point that out.’ And then I started thinking about making it more diverse after I thought about Denzel.”

‘The Magnificent Seven’ is an upcoming Western film scheduled to premiere in theaters on September 23, 2016 in the United States. It is produced under Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, LStar Capital, Village Roadshow Pictures, Pin High Productions, Escape Artists, and Columbia Pictures. It is distributed by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Releasing in the USA.