South Korean actor Lee Byung Hun talked about the challenging conditions he encountered while filming Antoine Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven." The eagerly anticipated film is a retelling of Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" (1954).
On the July 30 broadcast of MBC's culture program "Video Trip," Lee discussed the difficulties he and other cast members had experienced while filming "The Magnificent Seven." He said that they needed to act under the burning heat with the temperature at around 40 degrees Celsius.
"The temperature would be 40 degrees Celsius [104 degrees Fahrenheit], sometimes 41 degrees and the humidity would be at 90 percent," Soompi quoted the actor as saying. "It felt like I was under water. There was even a time when a stunt man got dehydrated and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance."
In the upcoming film, Lee plays an assassin, Billy Ricks, who shows expertise with knives and close combat. He will join previously announced actors Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier.
Set in Rose Creek, "The Magnificent Seven" follows the story of a small village under attack by rampaging bandits. To survive, Emma Cullen (Hayley Bennet) hires a disparate group of gunslingers.
On July 31, Sunday, it was reported that "The Magnificent Seven" will kick off this year's Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8. The film festival is scheduled to take place at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada from Sept. 8-18.
"We are pleased to welcome acclaimed filmmaker Antoine Fuqua back to the Festival, and have been proud to present audiences with his feature films including 'Training Day' and 'The Equalizer'," Director and CEO of TIFF, Piers Handling, said in a statement obtained by Calgary Herald. "Fuqua has delivered an exciting character-driven film on a grand scale, while putting his own unique spin on the genre, making for a thrilling opening night."
Check out Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven" trailer below: