“The Magnificent Seven” is officially getting the TV treatment, as MGM+ has greenlit an eight-episode drama series based on the iconic Western film.
The series hails from writer Tim Kring (“Heroes,” “Touch”), who will executive produce alongside Donald De Line (“Billy the Kid,” “Foster Dade”), Lawrence Mirisch and Bruce Kaufman. Production is set to begin in June 2026.
It was previously announced that “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto was developing a series adaptation of “The Magnificent Seven” at Amazon after co-writing the 2016 remake. That iteration is no longer moving forward, Variety has learned. Pizzolatto is not involved in the new adaptation from MGM+, which is owned by Amazon.
Set in the 1880s American frontier, “The Magnificent Seven” follows a group of mercenaries who are hired to protect a peaceful Quaker village after it is massacred by a land baron’s hired guns. As the flawed but gifted mercenaries embed with the Quakers, they must grapple with the question of whether it is acceptable to use violence to defend a people whose faith is based on nonviolence. The series will explore each member of the Seven, exploring what’s at stake and why they chose to take on this mission.
Directed by John Sturges and starring Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen and more, the 1960 film is largely considered one of the greatest Western films of all time. It spawned three sequels, a remake and a TV series that aired from 1998 to 2000.
“Tim Kring is a master storyteller,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “Tim, Donald De Line, Larry Mirisch, and Bruce Kaufman have crafted a series that delivers the energy of a classic Western, honors the legacy of the original film, and reasserts its timeless themes of the power of unity against oppression and flawed heroes finding redemption by helping those who can’t help themselves.”
The series is produced by MGM+ Studios and MGM Television Studios.
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From Variety US