When Antoine Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven" arrives in theaters Friday, it will mark another attempt to resuscitate one of Hollywood's most beloved and beleaguered genres - the western.
Though westerns were once as ubiquitous in Hollywood as comic book films are now, and shaped the cinematic sensibilities of many modern directors, their popularity waned in the 1970s. Additionally, some costly flops in the last decade, such as Disney's 2013 "Lone Ranger" reboot and Universal's 2011 "Cowboys & Aliens," have scared studios off of spending big money to bring back the genre.