Chris Pratt in Talks to Join Denzel Washington in ‘Magnificent Seven’ Remake

As Star-Lord, the quipping, fighting leader of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ Chris Pratt already has plenty of experience playing the member of a group of outlaws and vigilantes who become an unlikely bunch of heroes. In other words, he’s already kind of made ‘The Magnificent Seven’ in outer space, so why not make the real thing next?

That’s the plan, at least, as Deadline reports that Pratt is close to joining the upcoming remake of the classic Western, which will be directed by Antoine Fuqua from a script by John Lee Hancock and ‘True Detective’ creator Nic Pizzolatto. In the original film (which was itself based on Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Seven Samurai’), Yul Brenner played gunman Chris Adams, who assembles a team of rough-riding dudes (including Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn) to help protect a frontier village from bandits. Denzel Washington has already been cast in the lead of the new film; Deadline says that Pratt’s character “isn’t specifically modeled after [any of the] originals,” but now that I think about it, Pratt is sort of hybrid of McQueen (handsome, tough, looks great in a leather jacket) and Coburn (witty, sly, plays a great con man or huckster).

MGM has been working on a ‘Seven’ remake for a while; at one point, Tom Cruise was intended to star in the film. Pratt’s not confirmed yet, but if he signs on, he’ll be shooting this film with Denzel early next year.