Guns of the Magnificent Seven was the second of three sequels to The Magnificent Seven (1960, see entry).
       The 20 Feb 1968 editions of LAT and DV announced the project as the first assigned to director Paul Wendkos under his multi-picture deal with Mirisch Productions, Inc., and its British counterpart, Mirisch Films, Ltd. The 26 Feb 1968 LAT noted that actor George Kennedy was given the lead role under a similar deal with Mirisch. Kennedy was experiencing a wave of popularity, following his recent Academy Award for Cool Hand Luke (1967, see entry).
       A news brief in the 4 Mar 1968 DV stated that producer Vincent M. Fennelly was scouting locations near Madrid, Spain. Principal photography began 23 Apr 1968, according to a 26 Apr 1968 DV production chart.
       An article in the 26 May 1968 LAT revealed that there were as many as forty U.S. productions filming in Spain during that period. Wendkos was reportedly exasperated by the language barrier before a bilingual crewmember offered to act as translator. Cast members stayed at the Castellana Hilton in Madrid. The 29 May 1968 Var reported that Kennedy and Wendkos were spending their free time filming a documentary about Madrid college students. Principal photography ended 26 Jun 1968, as noted in the next day’s DV.
       Later that year, the 11 Sep 1968 Var reported that distributor United Artists Corp. (UA) was rereleasing The Magnificent Seven and Return of the Seven (1966, see entry) as a double bill to promote the upcoming sequel. A news item in the 20 Aug 1969 Var revealed that both pictures employed “essentially the same Elmer Bernstein score,” although UA claimed that original scores were composed for both. The company admitted, however, that the score for Guns of the Magnificent Seven included elements from those of its two predecessors, with little new material. Regardless, Bernstein was paid for his work on each of the individual films.
       The picture marked the screen debut of football player Bernie Casey of the Los Angeles Rams. While the 16 Aug 1968 DV reported that Casey had acquired representation through the William Morris Agency, the 17 Jul 1968 issue noted that Casey was postponing his acting career and was to resume training with the Rams that day.
       Guns of the Magnificent Seven opened 30 Jul 1969 in New York City, and on 13 Aug 1969 in Los Angeles, CA. Although a review in the 20 May 1969 DV stated that the production “rose above a routine storyline,” the 31 Jul 1969 NYT dismissed it as having “all the magnificence of a dead burro.” As noted in the 4 Jun 1969 Var, the film received a “G” rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). It was also declared “morally unobjectionable for adults and adolescents” by the Legion of Decency.
       Box-office reports in the 27 Jan 1971 Var indicated the opening of a triple bill, comprised of The Magnificent Seven and its two sequels. A third, The Magnificent Seven Ride! was released in 1972 (see entry).