TORONTO (AP) – The 41st Toronto International Film Festival has gotten underway with Antoine Fuqua’s remake of “The Magnificent Seven,” an old-school Western with more modern faces.
The film’s premiere Thursday is kicking off North America’s largest film festival, which is set to unspool some 300 films over the next 10 days. On tap are premieres of many of the fall’s top films.
“The Magnificent Seven,” starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, is a remake of the John Sturges’ 1960 Western, which itself was a remake of Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai.” Speaking to reporters Thursday, Washington said he never saw Sturges’ film, but he did watch “Seven Samurai.”
Casting a diverse group of actors, Fuqua said he wanted to make a more inclusive Western that would win the genre new fans.