Though we thought Hollywood’s Death Wish had finally been granted last year when the long-simmering remake got a blast of heat from writer/director Joe Carnahan, things cooled last month when he left the project, citing creative differences with MGM and Paramount. Now, though, we can hear the igniter clicking again as Miss Bala** director Gerardo Naranjo has come aboard to take on the film.
This new Death Wish would retool the 1974 Charles Bronson film, which sees a man going on a vengeful vigilante rampage when his family is brutally attacked and killed by thugs.
The current incarnation of the tale has been bubbling away for years, briefly pumping out steam when Sylvester Stallone told the world in 2007 he was working on a take that he hoped would launch a new franchise, written by Terminator 3 bods Michael Ferris and John Brancato. But he got more interested in his own his projects and nothing came of it.
Then, last year, Carnahan was effusive about his ideas, and worked on a script that took things back to Brian Garfield’s novel until disagreements about casting (he wanted Frank Grillo for the lead; the studios were after a Big Name) led to his departure.
Naranjo is a more unexpected choice, though** Miss Bala** was certainly full of action and danger. He’ll now be reaching out to lock in a star and get the film moving again.