Ryan Gosling Exits LOGAN’S RUN
Variety reports that Ryan Gosling (Drive, Gangster Squad) has exited Nicolas Winding Refn’s Logan’s Run remake. A reason hasn’t been given but it’s possible Ryan’s directorial debut could be causing problems with the film’s production. Nicolas is still attached but it’s looking like he’ll have to find another leading man for the project.
Christina Hendricks To Star In HOW TO CATCH A MONSTER Written And Directed By Ryan Gosling
ShockTillYouDrop reports that Ryan Gosling will be making his directorial debut with a horror film titled How To Catch A Monster. The film will see his Drive co-star Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as the lead character Billy. It will be interesting to see if working twice with Nicolas Winding Refn will have an influence on Ryan’s shooting style.
“Elements of fantasy noir, and suspense into a modern day fairytale. Set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city, Billy, a single mother of two, is swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town. Both Billy and Bones must dive deep into the mystery, if their family is to survive.”
Bryan Cranston Could Have Played The Villain In ‘X-MEN FIRST CLASS’
While you may think that Bryan Cranston (John Carter, Total Recall, Drive, ) aims to be in every big film during an interview with Collider he reveals he turned down a rather big film. Bryan says he had been offered the role of Sebastian Shaw the leader of the Hellfire Club and villain of X-Men First Class while looking at another project. He weighed the two roles by how much he liked the characters and went with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive instead. He mentions there was another role offered which I’d have assume was Stryker.
I read for the Kevin Bacon role in X-Men: First Class. And it was like, “Ah, there’s a possibility. ” Then there was this thing happening over here. It’s kind of like things coming up like materials and projects that are coming in and out. Quite often, it’s almost like a wave. “Here it comes, here it comes. . . oh no, that wave didn’t break. ” Why? Funding went this way, the lead dropped out, any number of things can happen. Or the studio says it’s too much money. Projects ebb and flow all the time, and the same thing in an actor’s career. There’s interest, and there’s ebbing and flowing all the time. “You have the offer! Oh, no you don’t. ” So, that was happening. They offered it to Kevin, and they offered me a different role in it.
At the same time, I read Drive, and I thought, “Oh, this is what I’d rather do. ” I turned down X-Men for the role in Drive because I liked the character better. Much better. The experience with Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman and Carey [Mulligan]—it was terrific. We had a great time. What was so much fun about it is that we’d go over to Nicolas Refn’s, the director’s, house in the canyons, and we’d all get together with the writer, and we would pitch out ideas and thoughts. “What about this? What about that? ” There’s nothing more satisfying than to have your thoughts and comments welcomed and incorporated in the script. So, we really feel ownership and part of that. You’re not just a hired hand, coming in, doing your job, and leaving. And Nicolas took a real kind of film noir, European feel to it, and it’s really hip and cool.
SOURCE: Collider
Cranston has a massive following thanks to Breaking Bad which is going into it’s last season. I’m sure he’ll be pursued again by Fox for the First Class sequel. If the sequel is taking cues from Days of Future Past we could see humans becoming the villains creating the Sentinels. Scientists Bolivar Trask and Stephen Lang are some of the people involved with the creation of the Sentinels.
Trask had appeared in X3 played by Bill Duke (Predator, Commando) and his character is credited for building Magneto’s prison and the mutant prisoner transport which held Raven, Juggernaut and Multiple Man. First Class is a reboot of sorts so I wouldn’t be shocked to see Trask retooled.
Nicolas Winding Refn Could Direct Hitman Thriller ‘BUTTON MAN’
Deadline has word that Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is currently in talks with Dreamworks to direct their thriller Button Man: The Killing Game which is based on a graphic novel. The project has a script from screenwriter Hilary Seitz who wrote Christopher Nolan’s serial killer thriller Insomnia. Giving the impression it could be ready to go into production this year. Nicolas just wrapped production on his next film Only God Forgives and seemingly won’t be making Logan’s Run anytime soon since plans for that production start haven’t been made.
The action revolves around Harry Exton, a hired gun who’s offered a fortune to take part in a game organized by bored millionaires that sets trained killers against one another in a fight to the death. The fat cats bet on the proceedings, and when Exton gets disgusted and opts out, his only exit strategy might be to off the millionaires funding the competition.
ProductionWeekly had reported a rumor that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks for Harry Exton. EW would later debunk the rumor and DiCaprio is not even involved. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ryan Gosling or Mads Mikkelsen step up to the plate here. Then again DiCaprio has been attracted to projects mainly because of the directors involved, so you never know if he’d turn down an offer if Nicolas was directing it.
Justin Kurzel To Direct ‘OUR KIND OF TRAITOR’ Based On John le Carre Novel
Variety reports that Australian director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) has landed his next directorial effort. He’ll be directing the globe-trotting thriller Our Kind of Traitor which is based on the novel by John le Carre (George Smiley series) and adapted by Hossein Amini (Drive). It follows the relationship between a young couple and a charismatic Russian criminal, who persuades them to help defect. The thriller takes place in London, Paris, Moscow and Tangiers. We should expect a level of acting talent similar to the other recent le Carre film Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy cast in this film.
Nicolas Winding Refn Wants To Make ‘I Walk With The Dead’ With Carey Mulligan Next
Cliff Martinez To Score Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives
Director Nicolas Winding Refn is moving one step closer to recapturing the magic behind last year’s art house hit Drive. ThePlaylist reports that Cliff Martinez has been hired to score his next film Only God Forgives. Cliff along with composing music for Drive has also provided scores for Solaris and Contagion.
There Could Be A Drive Sequel
Twitch reports that author James Sallis who wrote the original novel which Drive is based on has written a sequel titled Driven. The sequel takes place six years after the events of the first book in Phoenix, Arizona. Someone in town is trying to kill Driver and it will be their biggest mistake. There hasn’t been an announcement from either Nicolas Winding Refn or Ryan Gosling about their involvement in a sequel. Yet I’m sure since the film got rave reviews from critics it could be worth returning to.
Who Should Direct Thor 2?
Now that we know that Patty Jenkins, Brian Kirk and Kenneth Branagh aren’t options to direct Thor 2, who could? Previously we’ve seen some names that seem like odd matches before but have turned out great for Marvel Studios like Jon Favreau and Branagh. I think with the production date looming the studio might want to consider a few names. They very well won’t workout because of scheduling issues but I feel these directors could bring something to the table.
RUPERT SANDERS: He’s new to the movie industry but is cutting his teeth with a rather large project currently Snow White And The Huntsman which stars Chris Hemsworth. Rupert already has a working relationship with Hemsworth and seems to be able to handle a project of this size along with it’s budget restrictions. Huntsman features a lot of fantasy aspects that could be interesting seen in a Thor sequel. The humor might be an issue for Sanders since Huntsman looks like it could be a lot more serious than Thor. However, the last film was able to balance between many different emotions and could go darker if need be. While Huntsman will get a June release date between now and then Sanders is likely going to be busy as can be with post-production on the film.
NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Nicolas is film geek gold winning over many with his conceptual eye-popping thriller Drive this year. He’s been itching to make a comic book film being on many people’s list to step in for future Batman films. Not to mention Refn’s own intentions on making a serious Wonder Woman film for Warner Bros. but has yet to be taken up on the offer. Refn has stated his favorite of his own films was Valhalla Rising which featured a one eyed mute Viking slave who was a prize fighter. If Marvel really wanted to go the auteur route Nicolas would be that route. He’s currently shooting another smaller film title Only God Forgives which could easily be edited on the fly. I could see him being able to handle the genre and it’s humor my only concern would be it’s pacing. The only issue could be his in development remake of Logan’s Run could end up being his next project if WB wants it to be.
DUNCAN JONES: He’s been linked as a contender for Man of Steel, The Wolverine and Iron Man 3, the latter more rumor if anything else. Jones is a solid science fiction director his films Moon and Source Code run the gauntlet of emotions which doesn’t often happen in the genre. Thor is equally set in fantasy as it is science fiction which could be explored greatly with Jones behind the camera. He currently doesn’t have a set film on his slate while the others on the list do. Duncan has yet to fully jump into franchise territory and is unlikely to do so without a serious reason to. One of his passion projects Mute has been lacking in financing which could change if he knocked out something like Thor 2. I liken Duncan to Matthew Vaughn early in his career, so I dying to see what he can do with a Marvel property.
Ron Perlman Joins Drive
Ron Perlman (Hellboy) has signed on for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. The impressive cast already includes Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Oscar Isaacs (Robin Hood).
Albert Brooks To Play Villain In Drive
This seems like excellent casting on the part of writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher, Bronson). He’s put Albert Brooks (Simpsons, Out of Sight) best known for nice guy comedic roles in the role of the baddie in Drive. Some might remember Brooks played the over the top Bond-type villain Hank Scorpio on the Simpsons. He also played the villain in the Simpsons movie.
Cannes Promos For Drive, Wrecked & The Whistleblower
SlashFilm was able to get their hands on more interesting sales promos for new films during their coverage of Cannes.
First up is Nicolas Winding Refen’s new film Drive starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays a stuntman by day and getaway driver by night. I’ve been affectionately following the films of Refen so I’ll be posting more on the project.
Next is The Whistleblower which I’ve been dying to hear more from. It’s stars Rachel Weisz as a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.
Finally, Wrecked which stars Adrian Brody as a man who returns to consciousness after his car crashes into a ravine, with no idea who he is or how he got there and must overcome incredible odds to survive. It’s the first time hearing about the film but the synopsis is compelling.
“A Man (Adrien Brody) awakens in a mangled car-wreck at the bottom of a steep cliff. He’s injured, his legs are trapped, and he has no memory of who he is or how he got there. His only company – a crackling radio broadcast of a violent bank robbery gone wrong and a corpse in the back seat with a wallet identifying him as one of the perpetrators. As the man ventures beyond the wreckage, he must rely on his primal instincts, using anything he can find in the surrounding wilderness to increase his chances of survival. Confronted with overwhelming obstacles, both real and imagined,the Man must discover his identity and face the consequences of what that might be.”
CINEMA INVASION 