After losing Joe Carnahan from their remake of DEATH WISH, MGM was on the lookout for a talented filmmaker who could fill his shoes. As rumors swirled that Carnahan was courting Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Bruce Willis to take over the lead role associated with Charles Bronson, no one expected the name Gerardo Naranjo to be the new choice behind the camera. In fact, many of you are probably asking who the hell is Gerardo Naranjo?
Naranjo has directed mainly films in his native Mexico, including the critical success MISS BALA. He has also been working on an adaptation of the Charles Martin novel THE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US. One look at the MISS BALA trailer and you can see why MGM thinks he would be a good fit for DEATH WISH. Both films share a dark and gritty crime element to them and his camera style is similar to that of Carnahan, albeit less stylized.
The original 1974 DEATH WISH told the story of Paul Kersey, a New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.
I was very excited for Carnahan to take this project because I could imagine what his movie would look like. Depending on who MGM gets to star in the Naranjo version of the remake, I will remain cautiously optimistic.