Death Wish - remake (D: Eli Roth) S: Bruce Willis
01-31-12 | 07:01 AM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Death Wish - remake (D: Eli Roth) S: Bruce Willis
Originally Posted by slashfilm.com
I’m not sure what to make of this. Only hours after Joe Carnahan reasserted himself with the release of The Grey (my positive review is here), the director was announced as the writer and director of a remake of Death Wish.
Originally released in 1974, Michael Winner‘s Death Wish is a pretty slight film that nevertheless hit a nerve as fears of urban crime started to escalate. Charles Bronson plays Paul Kersey, an architect whose wife is killed during a home invasion that leads to rape; his daughter is caught up in the same event and is institutionalized as a result. Re-introduced to firearms during a business trip, Kersey takes to the streets of New York as a vigilante. Walking around alone at night, he deliberately invites criminal acts, then shoots the perpetrators.
Death Wish has been on the table as a remake or reboot over the past couple decades. What will Joe Carnahan do with it now?
The LA Times announces the deal, and doesn’t have much to offer about the project other than that it is intended as a reboot of Michael Winner’s film.
So what does Death Wish have to say today? Urban crime is generally on the decline. Even in my home of Atlanta, where robberies and street crime are still relatively common, overall crime figures are down. We’ve got a severaly budget-challenged police force which has nonetheless savaged a couple of local criminal gangs. New York, meanwhile, is a completely different city than it was in the early ’70s, and a far safer one. (Though a friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint on the Upper East Side about 24 hours before this remake was announced, so I can’t say that NYC street crime is gone.)
Originally released in 1974, Michael Winner‘s Death Wish is a pretty slight film that nevertheless hit a nerve as fears of urban crime started to escalate. Charles Bronson plays Paul Kersey, an architect whose wife is killed during a home invasion that leads to rape; his daughter is caught up in the same event and is institutionalized as a result. Re-introduced to firearms during a business trip, Kersey takes to the streets of New York as a vigilante. Walking around alone at night, he deliberately invites criminal acts, then shoots the perpetrators.
Death Wish has been on the table as a remake or reboot over the past couple decades. What will Joe Carnahan do with it now?
The LA Times announces the deal, and doesn’t have much to offer about the project other than that it is intended as a reboot of Michael Winner’s film.
So what does Death Wish have to say today? Urban crime is generally on the decline. Even in my home of Atlanta, where robberies and street crime are still relatively common, overall crime figures are down. We’ve got a severaly budget-challenged police force which has nonetheless savaged a couple of local criminal gangs. New York, meanwhile, is a completely different city than it was in the early ’70s, and a far safer one. (Though a friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint on the Upper East Side about 24 hours before this remake was announced, so I can’t say that NYC street crime is gone.)
01-31-12 | 07:13 AM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
The only way I could accept this is with Neeson. I agree with the article that its such a different time now, than when the book was published along with the movie. It can work, but it was such a product of its time.
01-31-12 | 07:20 AM
#5
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
01-31-12 | 08:09 AM
#6
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
If it finally get the original on Blu I am all for it. But agree that this genre has been there and done that.
01-31-12 | 12:43 PM
#12
DVD Talk Hero
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
Isn't this the remake in which Stallone wanted to star?
01-31-12 | 01:33 PM
#13
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
01-31-12 | 08:48 PM
#14
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
Neeson or don't fucking bother.
02-01-12 | 08:03 PM
#15
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
You know I was giving it some good thought last night...and I thought about only one man...one man that is the epitomy of danger...one where thugs, crackheads, rapists, will run for their lives. With one stare he is able to bend a thugs knife into a paper clip...that man is...
02-24-13 | 02:17 PM
#16
Suspended
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
I guess he's off the remake now cause he didn't want to use Bruce Willis which I can understand. I didn't know this though. Somebody should call Don Cheadle or William Macy for this.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/deat...-bruce-willis/
I said this in the past, that material was originally intended for Sidney Lumet and Jack Lemmon. That’s who was going to make DEATH WISH and that fascinates me, the idea of those two guys making that movie. So that’s what I’m kind of interested in revisiting and not so much the novel as so much the notion of vengeance, the notion of what it’s like to take a relatively or completely peaceful man, not necessarily a pacifist, but a peaceful man, a guy who has not known violence in his life and introduce it in such a horrific fashion that it fundamentally alters you, you know, genetically, it does something to you that you can’t undo. So it’s much more of a psychological attack on DEATH WISH...
02-24-13 | 03:29 PM
#17
Moderator
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
I share Carnahan's reluctance in casting a known "tough guy" in the role, but then again I found Charles Bronson perfectly believable as a milquetoast architect in the original. 
02-24-13 | 06:47 PM
#19
DVD Talk Legend
02-24-13 | 06:54 PM
#20
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
Never cared for Death Wish, so I don't know what this remake could do that the original didn't. Willis isn't about playing realistic schmucks anymore, so I expect a high octane bloody revenge pic, grrr!
02-25-13 | 08:45 AM
#21
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
Daniel Radcliffe or no sale.
03-22-13 | 05:36 PM
#22
DVD Talk Hero
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
Joe Carnahan is out and Gerardo Naranjo is in.
Fans of the 1974 crime drama Death Wish were outraged last year when a remake of the property was announced. Since then, director Joe Carnahan was busy developing the property, drafting the script from the Brian Garfield novel, transporting its setting from New York to Los Angeles and looking to include a role for Frank Grillo, co-star of Carnahan's last feature The Grey. But then last month, Carnahan surprised us by dropping the project, reportedly over a disagreement with the studio as to who should star.
Death Wish is almost back on track as Variety reveals MGM and Paramount have entered into negotiations with Gerardo Naranjo to take over the project. Though he has several features to his credit, Naranjo is best known for the 2011's Miss Bala, which played at such prestigious venues as the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival, gaining much critical praise along the way.
Considering Miss Bala was considered a gritty crime thriller, Naranjo seems a logical choice for an adaptation of the Charles Bronson classic that spawned four sequels. Its story centers on New York City architect Paul Kersey, a husband, father, and upstanding citizen who becomes a vengeance-driven vigilante once his wife is murdered and his daughter raped by thugs.
From here, Naranjo and the studios will move on to casting the lead. The studio had previously approached Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis. It'll be curious to see if they can land such big name stars with a lesser-known helmer on board. Regardless, this is a major opportunity for Naranjo, whose also attached to The Mountain Between Us for Chernin Enterntainment.
If you haven't already seen it then you should really checkout his film: Miss Bala.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g357MHuj8WE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Fans of the 1974 crime drama Death Wish were outraged last year when a remake of the property was announced. Since then, director Joe Carnahan was busy developing the property, drafting the script from the Brian Garfield novel, transporting its setting from New York to Los Angeles and looking to include a role for Frank Grillo, co-star of Carnahan's last feature The Grey. But then last month, Carnahan surprised us by dropping the project, reportedly over a disagreement with the studio as to who should star.
Death Wish is almost back on track as Variety reveals MGM and Paramount have entered into negotiations with Gerardo Naranjo to take over the project. Though he has several features to his credit, Naranjo is best known for the 2011's Miss Bala, which played at such prestigious venues as the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival, gaining much critical praise along the way.
Considering Miss Bala was considered a gritty crime thriller, Naranjo seems a logical choice for an adaptation of the Charles Bronson classic that spawned four sequels. Its story centers on New York City architect Paul Kersey, a husband, father, and upstanding citizen who becomes a vengeance-driven vigilante once his wife is murdered and his daughter raped by thugs.
From here, Naranjo and the studios will move on to casting the lead. The studio had previously approached Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis. It'll be curious to see if they can land such big name stars with a lesser-known helmer on board. Regardless, this is a major opportunity for Naranjo, whose also attached to The Mountain Between Us for Chernin Enterntainment.
If you haven't already seen it then you should really checkout his film: Miss Bala.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g357MHuj8WE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
03-22-13 | 06:50 PM
#23
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
^I blind-watched that on HBO one night and wasn't expecting it to be a bloodsoaked bullet-fest. I'm really curious to see how Naranjo handles this.
03-22-13 | 07:41 PM
#24
DVD Talk Hero
03-22-13 | 10:14 PM
#25
Suspended
re: Death Wish - Remake in the works
From here, Naranjo and the studios will move on to casting the lead. The studio had previously approached Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis. It'll be curious to see if they can land such big name stars with a lesser-known helmer on board. Regardless, this is a major opportunity for Naranjo, whose also attached to The Mountain Between Us for Chernin Enterntainment.
If you haven't already seen it then you should really checkout his film: Miss Bala.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g357MHuj8WE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>