Coming off a resurgence with last year’s strong survival tale The Grey, director Joe Carnahan was lining up a fair share of options for his follow-up. From the long-gestating Killing Pablo and White Jazz to a new version of Daredevil to a vampire tale to various other projects, it looked like he was finally set on directing a remake of the Charles Bronson-led Death Wish for MGM and Paramout. However a major roadblock seems to have been hit, according to Deadline.
Reports indicate that Carnahan has “abruptly withdrawn” from the project. The reason? The studios and the director couldn’t agree on who would step into Bronson’s shoes. While Carnahan was looking at other options, it seems that MGM and Paramount was looking towards Bruce Willis to lead. There’s likely much more behind this story, or perhaps Carnahan simply saw the star sleepwalking through A Good Day to Die Hard and smartened up.
While he still has all the other aforementioned projects in development (besides the canned Daredevil remake), the Narc helmer is eying a former Tony Scott project over at 20th Century Fox. After his sudden passing, Fox has been looking for a helmer for Narco Sub, an action thriller from Safe House scribe David Guggenheim. Reportedly in line with Scott‘s own Crimson Tide & Man on Fire, the film deals with semi-submersible crafts that South American drug cartels have used to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.. There’s no denying that Carnahan has been hugely influenced by Scott, so I’d be happy with him going this route.
Are you disappointed Carnahan won’t be taking on Death Wish? Do you want to see him direct a former Tony Scott project?