With horror hero Eli Roth having dropped out of killer shark film Meg, the director is reportedly now setting his sights on a remake of vigilante revenge classic Death Wish. The project has reportedly locked Bruce Willis to star in the role made famous by Charles Bronson.
Directed by Michael Winner, the 1974 thriller starred Bronson as a New York architect who takes the law into his own hands after his wife is viciously killed by a gang of street thugs, one of whom was played by a young Jeff Goldblum. Bronson returned for four fun but increasingly silly sequels, none of which featured the grit and troubling violence of the original.
Roth will be directing for Paramount and MGM, from a script by longtime writing partners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, 1408). Big Bad Wolves directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado were originally attached to direct the remake, but left the project due to creative differences. They reportedly wanted to stick closer to the minimalist 1972 source novel, as opposed to the enjoyable, but uncomfortably right-wing approach Winner took to the material.
Paramount/MGM are hoping to launch a franchise with the film, which has Roger Birnbaum (Wanted, Unbreakable) locked in to produce.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
