It’s clear by now that actor Ryan Gosling and director Nicolas Winding Refn have a great thing going. Although just one collaboration has been released, it went over quite well, and they’ve already got another (Only God Forgives) set for a release next year, as well as a few other projects in the works, including a big-budget update on Logan’s Run.
After turning Gosling into a slick (and real) hero in Drive, talk of a sequel has been bubbling up — only growing more fervent due the to the release of a novel sequel by James Sallis — and now Refn has stepped in to clear things up. Speaking with the Evening Standard (via The Playlist), he said a sequel is “never going to happen,” but not dashing hopes, he added “the character of the driver might return in another film. We’re playing with that idea. We’ll see what happens.”
It’s hard to imagine a film that feels more stand-alone than Drive, so the the talk of a sequel has never been to interest of yours truly. And while Refn says we may see this character again, it certainly seems like an offshoot of him is already showing up in Only God Forgives, evidence in some similar themes being explored. Add in Gosling’s busy schedule — including his directorial debut How to Catch a Monster, starring Drive‘s Christina Hendricks — and I can’t see the team actually returning to his Driver character anytime soon. In the meantime, Refn did offer his hand to Gosling behind the camera, saying, “we have spoken about it, and of course I will give him advice if he wants me to. I told him if he wakes up in sweats at 5am on the morning of shooting to call me.”
Do you want to see the Driver character return?