Where Was The Magnificent Seven Filmed? All Locations Explained

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The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven was filmed in several beautiful locations across the United States. The 2016 film, The Magnificent Seven, is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, which is an adaptation of a famous 1950 Japanese film called Seven Samurai. The Magnificent Seven's old-school Western style, mixed with modern special effects and production techniques, made it a huge commercial success, grossing over $160 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).

The Magnificent Seven follows the story of a small frontier town called Rose Creek. When the town is seized by a gold mining tycoon named Bartholomew Bogue and his small army of mercenaries, the townsfolk are forced to labor in Bogue's mines until a brave widow named Emma Cullen flees and recruits a company of seven bounty hunters to liberate the town. The Magnificent Seven follows their struggle to retake Rose Creek and bring the evil Bogue to justice.

Rose Creek

Was Shot In Jackson, Louisiana

Rose Creek in The Magnificent Seven was built from scratch by set designers about an hour outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in Jackson. The buildings in Rose Creek were all complete standing structures built for the sole purpose of filming The Magnificent Seven. The cast and crew often used the various buildings of Rose Creek to wait out the storms that notoriously slowed down the filming of this Western classic. The saloon especially became a hangout spot for the cast and crew when the weather was bad or they had a break from shooting.

Jackson is considered part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area.

All the scenes in Rose Creek were filmed on the set in Jackson. That includes the opening scene when Bogue subjugates the town and the Magnificent Seven's final confrontation with Bogue. Jackson is considered part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area, though it has a population of about 3,700 people. The weather was so bad while filming in Jackson that it took about three weeks to film the final battle between Bogue and the Seven (per Screen Daily).

Amador City

Was Filmed In New Mexico

The Magnificent Seven was also filmed in New Mexico. The film's brave bounty hunters are recruited from all over, but it begins with Sam Chisholm, who is introduced in Amador City. This part of the movie was filmed in the beautiful mountainous terrain of New Mexico. The rocky plateaus the Seven travel across on their way to Rose Creek present a stark contrast to the flat green landscape of Louisiana that most of the movie takes place in.

Some of the movie's most majestic shots were taken in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

Parts of the Seven's journey to Rose Creek were also filmed near Ridgway, Colorado, though most of it was shot in various parts of New Mexico. Some of the movie's most majestic shots were taken in Abiquiu, New Mexico, which has been a popular place to film Westerns for decades now. Some of the world's most famous directors have filmed there, including Steven Spielberg and the Coen brothers.

Abiquiu was notably a shooting location for the Coen brothers' masterpiece, No Country for Old Men, as well as Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. New Mexico provides a stunning terrain for any movie, not to mention significant tax breaks meant to encourage filming in the state.

The Rose Creek Area

Was Filmed In The Towns Of Zachary & St. Francisville, Louisiana

Some of the scenes that take place near Rose Creek, but not actually in the town, were filmed in the small towns of St. Francisville and Zachary, both of which are in Louisiana. Like Jackson, these two small towns are considered part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. It is difficult to say for certain which scenes were shot here, but based on the scenery; it could only be scenes that take place near the fictional town of Rose Creek.

Bogue, The Magnificent Seven's villain, spends part of the story in Sacramento after he is forced to flee by Chisholm and the Seven. Some of the scenes that depict him there may have been shot in Zachary or St. Francisville. It is also likely that some of the majestic horseback shots of the Seven riding together were shot in these towns. The original cut of The Magnificent Seven was over five hours long, so it's likely some of the scenes shot in Zachary and St. Francisville were cut for the final version.

Where Was The Original Magnificent Seven Filmed?

Was Filmed In Mexico

The Magnificent Seven is a remake of the classic 1960 Western movie of the same name, which was itself based on the 1954 Akira Kurosawa samurai classic Seven Samurai. Much like the remake, the 1960 movie was also an all-star affair. Yul Brynner took the lead in the Denzel Washington role. He is a veteran Cajun gunslinger who puts together his team to help save a small Mexican village from bandits. Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and James Coburn joined Brynner.

John Sturges ensured that the movie looked right by shooting it in Mexico

That is the main difference between the two movies. While the remake was about saving an Old West town in America from a gold-mining tycoon who used hired guns, the original occurred in Mexico. Therefore, director John Sturges ensured that the film looked right by shooting it in Mexico. Sturgis filmed his movie in Cuernavaca, Durango, and Tepoztlán. The interior shots were filmed in Churubusco Studios.

The primary photography took place in Cuernavaca and Tepoztlán, located in central Mexico near the capital city. This is where most of the scenes with mountainous terrain are seen. This includes Huichilobos, a small village at the foot of the Tepozteco mountain where the gunfighters stayed at one point. Tepoztlán is the shooting location where the Magnificent Seven worked with the villagers to train them to fight and protect themselves. The village was constructed here in the desert for the movie.

Churubusco Studios is located in the Churubusco neighborhood of Mexico City, and it is one of Mexico's oldest studios. This is where the gunslingers rode into town and had their initial gunfight. With all the scenes shot in Mexico, Sturgis returned to America for one major scene in the movie. The climactic battle with the Seven and the bandits was shot in Tucson, Arizona. This Magnificent Seven location is the same one used in movies like Tombstone and 3:10 To Yuma.

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