Tom Cruise‘s long in development remake of John Sturges‘ The Magnificent Seven, has landed a new writer to help with the process. Book author Nic Pizzolatto, who’s recently made forays into television screenwriting, has signed on to develop and write the script. The Magnificent Seven will mark his first major film project.
Sturges’ 1960 Western, itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, centers around a band of gunmen hired by a Mexican village for protection against a savage gang of bandits. A classic in its own right, Sturges’ movie boasted an impressive cast that included Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz, and Eli Wallach.
Pizzolatto’s hiring brings the long-gestating The Magnificent Seven one step closer to reality, but given Cruise’s packed slate it’ll likely be some time yet before the film enters production.