Nicholas Winding Refn‘s actioner (which he calls a “romance”) is looking better and better. It started with Ryan Gosling in the nameless lead role, then Bryan Cranston jumped in the passenger seat months later. Now we have Academy Award-nominee Carey Mulligan in the car too. [THR]

Based on James Sallis‘ novel of the same name, the story revolves around a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for heists. He meets a woman, her son and her man, the latter offering him a getaway job that’s crucial to the central narative.

I’ve read the book and was not a fan. It’s small, fast and lacks much detail. The “driver” is about as descriptive as his character name and the plot is no more original. The writing reads like cheap James Ellroy in its best moments.

That said, Refn as proven himself a visually ambitious director and one who (presumably) let’s his talent “go.” Hopefully this freedom plus Gosling, Cranston and Mulligan’s presence will save what will most likely be a weak screenplay.

Have you read Sallis’ work? Watched Refn’s?

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Our very own Jack Giroux interviewed one of my favorite directors, Nicolas Winding Refn about his latest film, Valhalla Rising, over at Film School Rejects. While speaking about his upcoming Hollywood debut, Drive, Refn let slip that they had signed Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston to join Ryan Gosling. Check Refn’s quote below. Read the full story

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Andrew Jarecki‘s All Good Things began production all the way back in April of 2008. The film, now completed for quite some time, has still yet to find a U.S. or international distributor. Because the company was so unsuccessful in distributing the film, Jarecki bought back the U.S. distribution rights from The Weinstein Company earlier this year [The Playlist].

However, the Weinsteins still have the international rights, and they are reportedly close to releasing the film overseas, although the U.S. distribution status remains unknown. Considering the prominence of some of the more notable cast members – Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, Kirsten Wiig – it remains a mystery to me why releasing this film has become such an extensive struggle.

Nevertheless, an international trailer has been released online. The true story revolves around the troubled Robert Durst (Gosling). Durst’s first wife vanished without explanation, and he was accused (eventually acquitted) of murdering his neighbor. Apparently Durst also dressed himself up as a woman on occasion, and was once caught stealing a sandwich despite the $500 he was carrying in his pocket. In other words, this has the potential to be a very interesting character drama, although the report suggests that early word has been more negative than positive.

What did you think of the trailer?

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Universal is pushing for The Bourne Legacy to be released in 2012 no matter what. I know what you are thinking. How the hell could they pull it off without Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass?! I’m with you, but here at TFS we want to consider the possibilities of this franchise. Here are twenty choices that wouldn’t (completely) screw up the franchise. Read the full story

After acclaimed Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn announced he will be shooting his neo-western this summer, fear spread that his other planned film Drive may get pushed out of the way. Fear no more, /Film found a promo poster while at the Cannes Film Festival, similar to David Cronenberg‘s Cosmopolis teaser we posted. Click the  image below to check out the full thing. Read the full story

Variety is reporting that Emma Stone of Superbad and Zombieland is in final negotiation to be opposite Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling in an upcoming marital problem comedy. Read the full story

Director Andrew Jarecki has quite literally taken his film back into his own hands. From The (fledgling) Weinstein Company, that is. Jarecki gained critical acclaim for his piercing documentary Capturing the Friedmans and has been making All Good Things for years upon years, inspired by the true story of Robert Durst, son of a wealthy New York family who was accused of killing his neighbor and suspected of killing his wife.

Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst star as the wealthy couple; the film’s been finished for nearly two years, lingering in distribution hell thanks to TWC’s failing bank statements over the last few years.

Jarecki, the founder of Moviefone, bought back his film from TWC for several million dollars:

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Coming Soon has reported that Ryan Gosling will star alongside Steve Carell in an upcoming Warner Bros comedy, directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the team behind I Love You Phillip Morris. The script was written by Dan Fogelman, who also penned Cars and Bolt. Carell is set to produce with Denise Di Novi, while Charlie Hartsock and Vance DeGeneres plan to executive produce.

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The young Danish auteur has been on somewhat of a hot streak news-wise lately, seemingly attached to every single interesting film in the studio system at one point or another.

He’s finally dropped off two of these projects: the long-gestating Keanu Reeves-starrer Jekyll, a modern retelling of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella (written by Revolutionary Road scribe Justin Haythe) and the super-intriguing Paul Schrader script The Dying of the Light, which was once set to star Robert De Niro and now has Harrison Ford loosely attached. [/ Film]

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Although it was reported that Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn‘s next project may be The Dying of the Light with Harrison Ford, it looks like he has found something else. Empire (via The Playlist) spoke with the director today and he said:

Hopefully [my] next is a movie with Ryan Gosling at a studio in America. It’s called ‘Drive,’ and it’s about a stuntman by day, a getaway driver by night.

If this project sounds familiar it is because The Descent director Neil Marshall was signed on to direct Hugh Jackman almost two years ago, but the production never got started. Now that it’s back on track with Nicolas Winding Refn, I couldn’t be more excited. The James Sallis novel of the same name follows “a stuntman who’s already-exciting existence is jolted when he discovers that a contract has been put out on his life.”

Check out the full novel synopsis below via Amazon:

I drive. That’s what I do. All I do.” So declares the enigmatic Driver in this masterfully convoluted neo-noir, which ranges from the dive bars and flyblown motels of Los Angeles to seedy strip malls dotting the Arizona desert. A stunt driver for movies, Driver finds more excitement as a wheelman during robberies, but when a heist goes sour, a contract is put on his head and his survival skills burn up the pavement. Author of the popular six-novel series set in New Orleans featuring detective Lew Griffin (The Long-Legged Fly, etc.) and such stand-alone crime novels as Cypress Grove, Sallis won’t disappoint fans who enjoy his usual quirky literary stylings. Reading a crime paperback, Driver covers “a few more lines till he fetched up on the word desuetude. What the hell kind of word was that?” Lines such as “Time went by, which is what time does, what it is” provide the perfect existential touch. In this short novel, expanded from his story in Dennis McMillan’s monumental anthology Measures of Poison, Sallis gives us his most tightly written mystery to date, worthy of comparison to the compact, exciting oeuvre of French noir giant.

Winding Refn was also attached to the Keanu Reeves-starring Jekyll, a Gore Verbinksi-produced heist film and the neo-Western Only God Forgives, set in Bangkok. The word that he will be directing Drive comes straight from his mouth, so expect it to be his next project. I loved Bronson and need to see Valhalla Rising again to fully appreciate it, but I look forward to anything Refn does.

Do you like Nicolas Winding Refn? Would you like to see him direct Drive?