James Horner secretly wrote the score for Antoine Fuqua’s Magnificent Seven

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Around this time lat month, it was announced that composer James Horner had died in a plane crash. His loss has definitely been felt in the world of cinema, but his music still lingers. It was thought that his score for Antoine Fuqua's SOUTHPAW would be his last, but it seems as though Horner still had a few surprises left for his fans. Director Fuqua was recently on NPR and had a few things about the man. It would be a disservice not to include the following, as it just goes to show you what a stand-up guy he was. The transcription comes courtesy of Movies.com.

Antoine Fuqua on James Horner:

James was an incredible human being. He was a filmmaker through and through. He was one of the most gentle people I've ever met. Even the way he spoke was very soft and thoughtful. He was magical. He had this childlike wonderment in his eyes, but he was an amazing artist, an amazing poet. I loved him and we became friends.

James was a family man. He loved his children. He called me on a Saturday after he watched [Southpaw], and I said "I don't have any money," because it wasn't a big budget movie. And he said to me. "I love the movie. I love the father-daughter relationship. Don't worry about the money, I'm just going to do it." And he did it for nothing. He paid his crew out of his own pocket.

And I just found out a few days ago – his team flew out here, to Baton Rouge, and they brought me all the music for The Magnificent Seven. He already wrote it for me based on the script. He did it all off the script because he wanted to surprise me. I thought it was a gift or something. And they all came out here and said, "Antoine, James wrote the music for Magnificent Seven already and it's just glorious." So that's my memory of James.

It's damn near impossible to compose a score for a film just off the script, so I'd be curious to know what themes Horner had developed and how much of it Fuqua will use for his upcoming MAGNIFICENT SEVEN remake. Obviously there will be a composer chosen to bring Horner's music to life, and that composer has some awfully big shoes to fill. Here's hoping he does the man the justice he deserves.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is currently slated for a January 13, 2017 release.

James Horner crafted a wonderful score for AVATAR. I wonder if he was able to develop any themes for James Cameron's upcoming sequels.