Trailer for the English-language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Luis Prieto’s PUSHER remake has been picked up by The Weinstein Company’s VOD label Radius and they’ve just cut this trailer for it to give us an idea of what to expect.

Like most people I generally don’t understand the reasoning behind remaking a great film, especially in this case. Nicolas Winding Refn’s PUSHER is so gritty, so much a piece of the times, that there’s absolutely no way that a film could hope to recapture the same feeling.

The trailer pretty much confirms my fears, looking more like they tried to make a stylized and “cool” film about drugs, sex and violence.

Like in the original, the film centers on a small-time drug dealer named Frank (Richard Coyle) who gets busted by the cops and throws away the product he got from a mob boss on credit. Now he owes a ton of money (try not to laugh at the zoom in the trailer) to a dangerous man (played by Zlatko Buric, reprising his role of Milo from the original series!) and decides to go on the run. Things don’t go well, obviously.

The PUSHER trilogy might be my favorite trilogy of all time, just an incredible series of films. They’re all about the drug world but are incredibly varied in themes and styles, although there’re all very brutal and uncompromising. It’s a bit sad to see Zlatko Buric (who had an insane turn in 2012 as the Russian mob boss) go back to this role, especially since he brought him to a stunning conclusion in his starring role in PUSHER 3. 

This remake just doesn’t look like it can compete with any of them.

PUSHER will hit the U.S. later this year.