Many self-help manuals recommend that men experiencing a personal setback try losing themselves in their work, and so it is that the soon-to-be-thrice-divorced Tom Cruise’s plate is getting a little fuller with the news that one of his longtime dream projects, a remake of the classic bro-mance Western The Magnificent Seven, has finally found a writer. The assignment been handed to Nic Pizzolatto, an acclaimed novelist (Galveston) and short-story writer, though his résumé beyond that is limited to a couple of episodes of The Killing and the upcoming TV series True Detectives with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
As noted earlier, this brings us one step closer to a world in which MGM may conceivably be remaking The Magnificent Seven at the same time that the Weinsteins are remaking its original source material, The Seven Samurai. So far, however, no one is threatening to remake the Roger Corman-produced, John Sayles-scripted, acknowledged Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven rip-off Battle Beyond The Stars, with George Peppard and Sybil Danning. Because some things are sacred.