#70. Drive
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: Hossein Amini
Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Distributor: FilmDistrict.
The Gist: Based on the James Sallis’ novel, set in the seamy underside of Southern California and Arizona, centers on a Hollywood stunt driver (Gosling) who moonlights as a wheelman during robberies and discovers that a contract has been put on him. He ends up on the run with an ex-con’s girlfriend (Mulligan) in his car. ….(more)
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston
List Worthy Reasons…: I remember when they started assembling the players for this project first by giving the Danish filmmaker behind the Pusher trilogy and the excellent Bronson the chance to come to go “Hollywood”, and then by going against type by casting names like Gosling and Mulligan for what is essentially an action movie not unlike the BMW films. A strange yet stellar cast plus an expert in genre films in Nicolas Winding Refn, means this could burn some serious rubber.
Release Date/Status?: FilmDistrict have pegged the film with a September 16th date. I wouldn’t be surprised if this either switches spots and/or attempts to find a film festival to premiere to advantage the release. This could be TIFF-bound with names such as Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling.