Denzel Washington almost walked away from ‘The Magnificent Seven’ pitch

Hollywood star Denzel Washington almost rejected action film The Magnificent Seven. Director Antoine Fuqua, who has teamed up with the 68-year-old actor on The Equalizer trilogy after first teaming up on 2001’s Training Day, said selling his collaborator on the 2016 reboot wasn’t an easy task.

He remembered opening his pitch with: “So, the sun is coming up. This man on this black horse comes…,” while speaking at a screening event for The Equalizer 3. Fuqua recalled: “(Washington) goes, ‘Wait, what?’ I said, ‘A man on his horse’, and Denzel’s like, ‘I’m not gonna get on a horse.’ I said, ‘No, no, let me finish! Magnificent Seven…’ And he just sat back and listened to me, let me get out my pitch.”

The filmmaker was convinced Washington would ‘walk away at any moment’, but thankfully he was willing to hear what Fuqua was planning. The pair have worked together for the latest instalment in The Equalizer’ franchise, but Fuqua insisted he isn’t planning a third film in the series.