In the year 1992, Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise ventured into the quintessential genre of American cinema – Westerns, with the romantic saga, Far and Away. Directed by Ron Howard, the film received an amalgamation of reviews, but it undeniably confirmed Cruise’s foray into a spectrum of cinematic genres. However, since then, the Top Gun star has refrained from Westerns, gravitating towards espionage thrillers and science fiction action extravaganzas, specifically from the year 2011 onward.
Yet, there was a point when speculations were rife that Cruise might once again mount his cinematic horse to play the lead in a Western, a remaking of a legendary entry in the genre to be precise. In the early stretch of the 2010s, it seemed Cruise was all set to be the face of MGM’s fresh interpretation of The Magnificent Seven. Unfortunately, that project didn’t materialize, with the updated version of the iconic Western eventually featuring Denzel Washington in the lead. Yet, the concept of Cruise leading this classic remake came tantalizingly close to fruition. For a fleeting period, it seemed as if Far and Away would finally have a sibling in the roster of Tom Cruise Westerns.
Cruise’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’: The Journey That Almost Was
Fast forward to May 2012, merely five months post the success of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which brought back the sparkle to Tom Cruise’s career. The star signed to feature in a fresh version of The Magnificent Seven for MGM. As Variety reported, Cruise nurtured a long-standing aspiration to spearhead the project, even though it would take a significant amount of time before the project could become tangible. At this point, the project lacked a director or writer, which meant that substantial work was required before this remake was ready to roll. Nevertheless, Cruise’s attachment was a huge plus for the remake on multiple fronts.
For MGM, a production house that was gradually recovering from bankruptcy and striving to re-establish itself in the world of large-scale film productions, having Tom Cruise as the protagonist in the upcoming Magnificent Seven was a sure-shot method to reinstate public faith in the company. Concurrently, this prospective collaboration marked the reunion of MGM and Cruise following a peculiar phase during the late 2000s when Cruise managed the MGM subsidiary, United Artists. Though Cruise’s stint as a studio chief didn’t take off, the future of MGM and Tom Cruise seemed to converge once again with this announcement. Both the studio and the actor, once giants of Hollywood, were now seeking to revive their statuses in the 2010s.
In the summer of 2012, rumors started circulating about potential members joining Cruise in this film’s ensemble cast. Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Costner were allegedly in line to be part of the project. The inclusion of Jason Bourne could have certainly amplified the action credibility of this remake, though the veracity of this rumor remains unverifiable. Even amidst a flurry of casting speculations, the lack of a script or a director for the project indicated that this modern version of The Magnificent Seven was not a pressing concern for film enthusiasts.
The ‘Magnificent Seven’ That Never Rode Into the Sunset: Why?
Fast forward to December 2013, concrete information on who would pen the remake surfaced with the announcement that John Lee Hancock had been roped in to write the script for The Magnificent Seven. However, with this news also came the revelation that Tom Cruise had severed ties with the project. The reasons for this split remained undisclosed. The Magnificent Seven didn’t waste any time in finding a new lead actor and creative team, with director Antoine Fuqua swiftly taking over the project and Denzel Washington stepping into the lead role. Cruise’s exit did not spell the end for the remake.
The reason for Cruise’s exit might be attributed to his wavering box office performance over the preceding 19 months. When he joined The Magnificent Seven, Cruise was riding high on the success of Ghost Protocol. However, a month later, he suffered a massive box office disaster with Rock of Ages, followed by the moderate performer, Jack Reacher, in late 2012. Early 2013 saw Cruise star in the mediocre box office performer, Oblivion. These back-to-back disappointments, with one turning into one of the largest flops of Cruise’s career, likely made him more cautious about his future projects.
Post the 2014 film, Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise shifted his focus primarily to reprising his roles of Ethan Hunt, Jack Reacher, and Maverick in blockbuster hits, barring a brief stint as Nick Morton in The Mummy in 2017. With this alteration in priorities and in an attempt to evade further flops like Rock of Ages, taking the lead in a remake such as The Magnificent Seven, especially in a Western genre that was not known for massive international earnings, no longer suited Cruise’s agenda.
Though MGM may have been unfazed by Cruise’s departure, having secured the equally bankable Denzel Washington for the lead role in The Magnificent Seven, the ones who suffered the most were the fervent Western movie buffs and Tom Cruise fans. For them, the downfall of a Tom Cruise-led Magnificent Seven remake was nothing short of a disaster. But in such challenging times, they could always find solace in revisiting their copies of Far and Away.
