I've got an incredible soft spot for Charles Bronson's DEATH WISH series, none of which could be called "good" movies, although I'm sure an argument could be made for the first installment, but watching Bronson dispatch bad guys in increasingly ridiculous ways throughout the franchise has provided me with much entertainment. A remake of the film, said to skew closer to Brian Garfield's original novel, has been in development for some time but has dealt with some difficulties over the past few years; more on that later.
Deadline has announced that Vincent D'Onofrio (Daredevil) and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) have joined up with Eli Roth's DEATH WISH remake which is set to star Bruce Willis as Paul Kersey, a man whose life is destroyed by a violent crime against his wife and daughter. Seeking vengeance against the perpetrators who were not brought to justice, Kersey takes to the streets to hunt them down. Vincent D'Onofrio will play Paul Kersey's brother and Dean Norris will play Detective Rains.
Now, back to those difficulties I mentioned earlier. Joe Carnahan (THE GREY) was originally attached to direct the remake several years ago, but when the studio began pushing for a more action-oriented story as well as putting Bruce Willis in the lead role, Carnahan walked, but not before sending off a rather harshly worded e-mail to MGM president Jonathan Glickman. Carnahan was then replaced by Gerardo Naranjo but the project remained in development hell for a couple of years. Enter Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (BIG BAD WOLVES) as the new directors of the DEATH WISH remake and everything seemed to be on track, until they too departed citing creative differences.
What's the lesson here? Apparently it's don't go against a studio who wants to pump out another Bruce Willis action vehicle with a recognizable name attached to it. Eli Roth stepped up to direct just two months ago and production on DEATH WISH will kick off by late September.