Editing The Magnificent Seven (section)

==Production==
===Development===
Lou Morheim acquired rights to remake the film in the US for $2,500. He later signed a deal with Yul Brynner's production company, who bought the rights from Morheim for $10,000 up front plus $1,000 a week as a producer and 5% of the net profits.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Japanese Plot To Be American Western|date=February 5, 1958|page=3|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety209-1958-02/page/n1/mode/2up|access-date=September 13, 2021|via=Archive.org}}</ref> [[Anthony Quinn]] was lined up to star with Brynner as director but later [[Martin Ritt]] was appointed as director with Brynner starring.<ref name=AFI>{{AFI film|53218}}</ref>

Brynner approached producer [[Walter Mirisch]] with the idea of remaking Kurosawa's famous samurai film. However, once Mirisch had acquired the rights and finalized a deal with [[United Artists]], Brynner was sued for breach of contract by Quinn, who claimed that he and Brynner had developed the concept together and had worked out many of the film's details before the two had a falling-out. Quinn ultimately lost his claim because there was nothing in writing.<ref name="stafford">{{cite web|last1=Stafford|first1=Jeff|title=The Magnificent Seven|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/15857/the-magnificent-seven#articles-reviews?articleId=25758 |website=TCM Film Article|publisher=Turner Classic Movies, Inc.|access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref>

The film's title comes from the initial American localized title of ''Seven Samurai'', which was initially released under the title ''The Magnificent Seven'' in the United States in 1955.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LaFave |first=Kenneth |date=6 February 1983 |title=Full-length 'Samurai' is masterful |pages=73 |work=[[Arizona Daily Star]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/162688962/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=21 April 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name="Daily">{{cite news |last1=Hale |first1=Wanda |title=The Guild Presents Fine Japanese Film |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/455680836/ |access-date=21 April 2022 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=20 November 1956 |page=50 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 March 1959 |title=New Shoes: "The Magnificent Seven" |pages=14 |work=[[Spokane Chronicle]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/565651391/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=21 April 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Writing===
Script credit was a subject of contention. Associate producer Morheim commissioned [[Walter Bernstein]], a [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted scriptwriter]], to produce the first draft "faithfully" adapted from the original script written by [[Shinobu Hashimoto]], [[Hideo Oguni]] and [[Akira Kurosawa]]; when Mirisch and Brynner took over the production, they brought on [[Walter Newman (screenwriter)|Walter Newman]], whose version "is largely what's onscreen." When Newman was unavailable to be onsite during the film's principal photography in Mexico, [[William Roberts (screenwriter)|William Roberts]] was hired, in part to make changes required by Mexican censors. When Roberts asked the [[Writers Guild of America]] for a co-credit, Newman asked that his name be removed from the credits.<ref>{{cite magazine| url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117797983 |title= The Magnificent Seven (MGM Home Entertainment release) | date= May 6, 2001 | author= Robert Koehler | magazine= Variety | access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref>

===Casting===
Sturges was eager to cast Steve McQueen in the picture, having just worked with him on the 1959 film ''[[Never So Few]]'', but McQueen could not get a release from actor/producer [[Dick Powell]], who controlled McQueen's hit TV series ''[[Wanted Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]''. On the advice of his agent, McQueen, an experienced race car driver, staged a car accident and claimed that he could not work on his series because he had suffered a whiplash injury and had to wear a neck brace. During the interval required for his "recuperation", he was free to appear in ''The Magnificent Seven''.<ref name="eliot">{{cite book|last1=Eliot|first1=Marc|title=Steve McQueen|date=2012|publisher=Three Rivers Press |location=NY |isbn=978-0307453228 |pages=75–77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQXDLM0til4C&q=steve+mcqueen+magnificent+seven&pg=PA74|access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref> James Coburn was a great fan of the Japanese film ''Seven Samurai'', having seen it 15 times, and was hired through the help of co-star and former [[Los Angeles City College|classmate]] Robert Vaughn, after the role of the expert knifethrower had been rejected by actors [[Sterling Hayden]] and [[John Ireland]].<ref name="Pendreigh">{{cite web | last1=Pendreigh | first1=Brian | title=Magnificent obsession | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/feb/04/1 | website=The Guardian | date=February 3, 2000 | access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref><ref name="coburn">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=14 February 2025|access-date=14 February 2025|title=Movie Star Cold Streaks: James Coburn|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/movie-star-cold-streaks-james-coburn/}}</ref>

===Filming===
The film was shot by [[cinematographer]] [[Charles Lang]] in a [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] [[anamorphic format]] using [[Panavision|Panavision lenses]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.panavision.com/updating-icon-magnificent-seven|title=Updating an Icon: The Magnificent Seven|website=www.panavision.com|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> Location shooting began on March 1, 1960, in Mexico, where both the village and the U.S. border town were built for the film. The location filming was in [[Cuernavaca]], [[Durango]], and [[Tepoztlán]] and at the [[Churubusco Studios]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capua |first=Michelangelo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAllHF9-7ZYC&dq=%22The+Magnificent+Seven%22+%22+Tepoztl%C3%A1n%22&pg=PA94 |title=Yul Brynner: A Biography |date=2014-06-26 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8035-7 |pages=8–9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hannan |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIahCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Magnificent+Seven%22+%22Durango%22&pg=PA103 |title=The Making of The Magnificent Seven: Behind the Scenes of the Pivotal Western |date=2015-05-11 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9695-2 |pages=103 |language=en}}</ref> The first scenes were the first part of the six gunfighters' journey to the Mexican village prior to Chico being brought into the group.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andreychuk |first=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsfhcLmhnRwC&dq=%22The+Magnificent+Seven%22+%22Chico%22&pg=PA89 |title=The Golden Corral: A Roundup of Magnificent Western Films |date=1997-08-15 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-0393-6 |pages=88–89 |language=en}}</ref>

During filming there was considerable tension between Brynner and McQueen, who was displeased at his character having only seven lines of dialogue in the original shooting script. (Sturges had told McQueen that he would "give him the camera".) To compensate, McQueen took numerous opportunities to upstage Brynner and draw attention to himself, including shielding his eyes with his hat, flipping a coin during one of Brynner's speeches, and rattling his shotgun shells. Brynner would often build up a little mound of earth to make himself look as tall as McQueen, only to have McQueen kick the dirt out of place when he passed by.{{sfn|Capua|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mAllHF9-7ZYC&pg=PA95 95]}} When newspapers started reporting about a rivalry, Brynner issued a press statement saying, "I never feud with actors. I feud with studios."{{sfn|Capua|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mAllHF9-7ZYC&pg=PA96 96]}}

In an interview Eli Wallach recalled his own interaction with fellow players: "Bronson was a loner. He kept to himself. I liked Robert Vaughn and James Coburn very much. Vaughn is a very intelligent guy. He wrote a book on blacklisting. Coburn was one of those quiet types which fit his character very well: silent but a knife thrower of great skill."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eli Wallach |url=https://www.americanlegends.com/actors/eili%20wallach/index.html |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=www.americanlegends.com}}</ref>