The Equalizer franchise director Antoine Fuqua has made some great movies over the course of his career and he recently revealed that there are two of them that he would like to release director’s cuts for. During a recent interview with IndieWire, the director was specifically asked about a longer cut of his 2016 Western action movie The Magnificent Seven. He responded, saying:
“[Ethan Hawke] saw the very first [cut]. I don’t know where it is now though, with MGM, I’d have to try to get it. I would like to recut it myself, but I don’t know who would pay for it. I’d have to pay for that, somewhere down the line, I might try. But yeah, he saw the very first cut, which I thought was better. You are dealing with the studio and timing and theaters, but you got a business is business. But I wish that one was the version [that was released].”
In The Magnificent Seven, “With the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns – Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), Josh Farraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money.”
He went on to say that he would also like to release a director’s cut of his 2003 action thriller Tears of the Sun, which starred Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci. He said:
“It had much more to it. It was cut down quite a bit. It became a little more movie star-driven, and that wasn’t the intention. It was more about the people and the events, and then it became obviously shifted. But Bruce Willis is an amazing movie star, and I get it.”
In Tears of the Sun: “The Nigerian government has fallen, and the country is on the verge of civil war. Lt. A.K. Waters (Willis) has been assigned to lead a team of soldiers into the Nigerian jungle to rescue Dr. Lena Kendricks (Bellucci). When Waters and his team locate Kendricks, she tells them she won’t leave her helpless patients to be slaughtered by rebels. The team incurs the wrath of both U.S. and Nigerian forces when they side with Kendricks and attempt to march the refugees to safety.”
I have no idea of Fuqua will ever get the opportunity to do director’s cuts for these movies. I doubt it will happen, but if he ever does, I’d watch them!
