The remake of The Magnificent Seven brought together the likes of Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio, but it wasn’t the only failed Western the trio appeared in together. The best Western movies of all time span the beginning of the motion picture era all the way to the modern Westerns.
With such a long legacy, there have been several times when the Western genre has been redefined over the years. The Spaghetti Westerns rejuvenated the genre when traditional Westerns fell out of favor, while the 90s saw a more stylish approach when Hollywood had seemingly grown weary of these stories.
The 21st century has seen some great Westerns, as well as those that have failed to rebrand the genre. Despite their shared star power, Pratt, Hawke, and D’Onofrio’s attempts to revive the Westerns proved flawed, not once but twice.
Pratt, Hawke & D’Onofrio Appeared In 2 Westerns Together In Just 3 Years
While many know Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio were part of the star-studded cast of The Magnificent Seven remake, you might have missed the fact that they also reteamed for another Western just three years later. The two movies are completely different in scale, as The Kid is a low-budget effort compared to The Magnificent Seven’s blockbuster size.
The Magnificent Seven retells the classic 1960 Western, which was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Denzel Washington leads the Western about a group of seven gunfighters who help protect a small town from a sadistic industrialist. Pratt, Hawke, and D’Onofrio play members of the heroic gang, with Pratt as Faraday, Hawke as Robicheaux, and D’Onofrio as Horne.
The Kid is a Western drawn from true stories, though it largely invents its own tale. The movie follows a young kid (Jake Schur), who witnesses the encounter between outlaw Billy the Kid (Dane Dehaan) and Sheriff Pat Garrett (Hawke). Hawke plays Schur’s vengeful uncle, while D’Onofrio plays a town sheriff.
The Kid was something of a passion project for D’Onofrio, who also co-wrote and directed the movie. Meanwhile, The Magnificent Seven was directed by Antoine Fuqua, who worked with Washington on The Equalizer movies.
Both 2010s Western Revival Attempts Were Poorly Received
Both The Magnificent Seven and The Kid were Westerns that felt like throwbacks to another era in the genre. They sought to bring a classic Western type of story into the 2010s, while also using some more modern filmmaking techniques. However, in both instances, the results were disappointing and did little to shift the modern Western.
Despite the star-studded cast, The Magnificent Seven was a box office letdown. With a reported $100 million budget, its total gross of just over $160 million wasn’t enough to call it a success (via Box Office Mojo). The critical response was also mixed, earning 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. As a rare big-budget Western, the lackluster performance was disappointing.
In terms of The Kid, it came and went without much notice. Though Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio brought star power to the small project, it wasn’t enough to secure the movie a wide release, making $1.6 million on a $7 million budget. Critics largely didn’t care for the movie either, resulting in 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Westerns looked to the past of what makes a good Western and sought to bring that into the 2010s. The Magnificent Seven was a remake of a beloved Western, while The Kid centered around real-life figures of the Old West. However, neither movie managed to make the audience care about that kind of Western story.
The Magnificent Seven & The Kid Misjudged Where The Western Genre Was Heading
While it is commendable for The Magnificent Seven and The Kid to attempt a throwback to older Westerns, it was ultimately misguided, as there was a noticeable shift in what audiences wanted from the genre now. Both movies came out in the 2010s, but the 2000s were a key decade for redefining the Western movie.
The success of No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and There Will Be Blood showed that the Western genre could still be award-worthy cinematic experiences. However, these movies also proved that dark and intense Westerns were something that audiences were interested in.
The Magnificent Seven and The Kid sought to return to simple Western adventures about good guys versus bad guys. While they failed, movies with extreme violence, deep themes, and complex characters succeeded, like Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight, and Hell or High Water. These movies saw the change in the genre and leaned into it rather than fight it.
The Magnificent Seven is a timeless story of good guys and bad guys, so it is not hard to see how they thought it could still resonate with audiences now. However, as the Western genre continues to evolve over time, there are some stories that will inevitably fall out of favor with audiences.
