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Irvine Welsh to Direct British Comedy The Magnificent Eleven

by Ethan Anderton
February 15, 2010
Source: ScreenDaily

For some, Trainspotting was their first encounter with director Danny Boyle as a spectacular filmmaker with unique vision. But for others, Trainspotting first came into their lives three years earlier in the form of Scottish author Irvine Welsh's beloved novel. Aside from writing Welsh has dabbled in directing short films as well as music videos like Atlantic for British rock band Keane. Now ScreenDaily says Welsh is set to take on his first feature film with the gritty comedy The Magnificent Eleven, a modern-day version of the classic 1960 western The Magnificent Seven featuring Sean Bean, Dougray Scott and Robert Vaughan.

The classic western formula gets spiced up a bit with: an amateur soccer team (cowboys), some Indians (in place of Native Americans) who run a nearby Tandoori restaurant, and a group of menacing thugs (bandits) run by a maniac called Blonde Bob. I really like the idea of making contemporary versions of classic stories that aren't necessarily remakes of the original film itself. It's somehow fun and much more appealing than just re-telling the story with the same characters, new actors. Of course, Robert Vaughan is the last surviving main cast member from The Magnificent Seven so that's pretty cool in itself. We'll keep you updated on this!

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