First up comes the hopefully apocryphal rumor that Rob Letterman, director of Jack Black flicks Gulliver's Travels and Goosebumps, has been hired to direct Seven Samurai. In the works for nearly a decade, and once envisioned as a Thailand-set story centering on a team of armed military contractors (!!!), the project is basically starting over from scratch. And part of the decision in hiring Letterman is his experience directing Monsters v. Aliens and Shark Tale since one approach The Weinstein Co. is considering is animation. I would encourage them to watch the excellent series Samurai 7 before going down this route. And let's be honest, the real worry is that Letterman will bring on Jack Black and turn this into a comedy. You know it might happen, right? Be afraid. Seven Samurai is one of my favorite movies ever and I'm terrified this story is true. [The Tracking Board]So what about the remake of the remake, The Magnificent Seven? Some months back Antoine Fuqua was set as helmer for the Western, and quickly sent an offer out to reteam with Denzel Washington, his star on Training Day and The Equalizer. While at TIFF for the latter film's premiere, Fuqua confirmed that Washington is on board to play 1/7th of the infamous Seven. Where all this fits in their schedules is unclear as the two could be working together again very soon on a sequel to The Equalizer, assuming it performs well enough. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) wrote the most recent draft, coming aboard just as Tom Cruise dropped out of the lead role.
