Pre-production
Producer Lou Morheim originally bought the rights to Seven Samurai, with plans to have Anthony Quinn as lead; according to Variety Brynner "got the rights away from Quinn" and brought Sturges into the project as director, based on the latter's work on Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In spite of Morheim's involvement, Sturges "insisted on sole producer credit"; both Morheim and Quinn brought suit over the events, with Morheim settling for an associate producer credit and Quinn denied the $630,000 in damages he sought.
Script credit was also a subject of contention. Walter Bernstein, a blacklisted scriptwriter, was commissioned by Morheim to produce the first draft "faithfully" adapted from the original script written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa; when Mirisch and Brynner took over the production, they brought on Walter Newman, whose version "is largely what's on screen." When Newman wasn't available to be on-site during the film's principal photography in Mexico, William Roberts was hired, in part to make changes required by Mexican censors. When Roberts asked the Writers Guild of America for a co-credit, Newman asked that his name be removed from the credits.
Read more about this topic: The Magnificent Seven