Nicolas Winding Refn says no to Drive sequel
Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn look unlikely to reunite for Drive sequel, Driven...
The reigning Den Of Geek film of the year is Drive. It not only won our annual writers' poll last year, but did so by a huge margin, earning twice as many votes as the second place film. Yet despite the wide critical acclaim and comparable box office success of it, the once-reported plans for a follow-up seem to be petering out. Granted, Drive might not be the most obvious film to receive the sequel treatmen,t but with James Sallis' follow up novel, Driven, hitting shelves earlier this year, there had been speculation about whether director Nicolas Winding Refn would return.
The question was posed to the man himself in a new interview. And he was pretty adamant. "That's never going to happen. But the character of The Driver might return in another film. We're playing with that idea. We'll see what Happens.”
So, a blunt response then and one that seemingly rules out a straight adaptation of Driven. Yet it does leave him open to exploring the character further at some point.
Winding Refn's focus is currently aimed in the direction of the Ryan Gosling-starring Only God Forgives, and Gosling himself is set to make his directorial debut with How To Catch a Monster. That's a project that will also have a Drive connection, as it will star Christina Hendricks.
So, any advice from Winding Refn to Gosling? Just the following: “We have spoken about it, and of course I will give him advice if he wants me to. I told him if he wakes up in sweats at 5am on the morning of shooting to call me"...
The Evening Standard (via The Playlist)
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I never got the praise for this stylish but ultimately unsatisfying movie, so who cares if it gets a sequel?
Interesting that Refn said the character might appear somewhere though as if he has interest in developing something with Gosling along similar lines.
I could quite imagine the Driver being an equivalent to Eastwood's Man with No Name as he was certainly the standout of the whole thing.
But Drive was the story of normal, fallible human beings connected by a web of crime, longing and violence. More importantly, Drive was a story that was resolved by the time the credits rolled.
Is The Driver a superhero now or something? Does he get into adventures?
What about a re-make.. or a reboot ? It's only been a year.. that's enough time for Moneywood to justify doing it..
No, not a superhero, but I'd be interested to learn more about what got him to the point he was at in Drive. Obviously lots went on in his life before the movie, and if they can find some compelling stories to tell, I'd go see it.
Step away from Drive and the Driver and just leave it alone, already! One, perfect film is all we need, not multiple inadequate sequels!