Nordling here.
Honestly? I'm not keen on a remake of DEATH WISH. Even with Charles Bronson as Kersey I think the point was well made in the film, about a liberal architect who becomes a raging conservative werewolf when his family is attacked. It's a different world now - crime is significantly less, and things aren't always so black and white. Hey, I'm a liberal and I'm a huge Second Amendment advocate. I'm not a personal fan of guns, but I don't think anyone should be denied any rights in owning them. Supporting the Bill of Rights means supporting ALL of them.
But I digress - Joe Carnahan's moving forward with DEATH WISH, and he tweeted a little bit about it yesterday:
Guys. I’m doing DEATH WISH. But this version is a re-imagining of the book and set in present day Los Angeles. The L.A. of COLLATERAL. It’s on buses, cabs, metro trains. I want to show an unseen version of L.A. L.A. on foot. Prowling. Hunting. The vast emptiness of downtown. … Refn did a phenomenal job shooting L.A. It took on a different dimension. That’s the key. … The only role I’m writing in DEATH WISH which will mark the ONE time I’ve ever written exclusively for an actor, will be for @FrankGrillo... Guys, I said I was writing a role for @FrankGrillo. Nobody said anything about Frank playing the Kersey part. Relax folks. We have a plan.
He also insisted that KILLING PABLO was still on his plate, after DEATH WISH.
Again, I'm not sure what DEATH WISH would have to add to today's modern climate, and I see a movie like GOD BLESS AMERICA to be flip-sided coin to that movie. Vigilantes will always have a place in movies - what's a superhero movie if not a vigilante movie? In their way they're ALL spiritual cousins to DEATH WISH - and I hope that Carnahan and company have a unique take on the material, and that they find an interesting actor to play Kersey that isn't an obvious action hero.
