Drive is taking an unusual journey to the screen. It’s been around for quite a while, and early last year looked like it was gonna be made as a throwaway studio project for Hugh Jackman and director Neill Marshall. Then all went quiet and it seemed the film might be dead, until a few months ago when suddenly the film had gone from Marshall to Pusher and Bronson director Nicholas Winding Refn. He certainly seemed a slightly off choice for the role, as it appears a more generic project than anything he’s done before.
However it may well be that the reason it seems odd, is that while the premise sounds a bit blah, it’s actually got more to offer than it would seem, as it’s attracting quite a weighty cast. News that Ryan Gosling would take over the lead role from Jackman came at the same time Refn announced he would helm, and now THR reports that An Education’s Carey Mulligan and Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston are now in talks to join the film.
The movie is an adaptation of the James Sallis novel about a nameless Hollywood stuntman (Gosling), who moonlights as a freelance getaway driver during robberies. When a bank heist goes wrong, he ends up on the run with a contract on his head and an ex-cons girlfriend (Mulligan) in his car. It certainly doesn’t initially sound like the sort of movie that would attact two much-praised Oscar nominees and a double Emmy winner, but it has.
Casting is ongoing for the smaller roles, with shooting due to begin next month.