Joe Carnahan Remains Committed to his Death Wish Script
Writer and director Joe Carnahan has long since departed the Death Wish remake over creative differences. He reportedly wrote the film with Frank Grillo in mind, before Paramount insisted on Bruce Willis as its star.
While Eli Roth has taken the helm, Carnahan hopes to use his script to create his own film, as MGM apparently made enough changes to it that it could be reworked as an original story.
"It’s being shot right now, they’re off shooting a version of that script with Bruce Willis, I think in Montreal, maybe Chicago? I’m not sure. It’s, you know, if you don’t have something nice to say, you probably shouldn’t say it. I got a glimpse of that script, that was reported to be kind of a re-engineering of my script, and I would be less than hospitable if I commented on that
"And whatever, I think they’re gonna get exactly what they want, and that wasn’t what I was interested in doing, and bully to them for sticking their guns, and I’m content to stick to mine, and that script will live to fight another day. That’s what I’m gonna look forward to, because it’s so radically different from what I did that I’m confident I can rework that into something just as good as it is on the page. It’s really a great script, man.
"Oh yeah, I don’t think there’s any question about [still making it], and I think I’ll wait a few years and explore that, because I believe that it’s, in terms of that genre and revenge vigilante, I just thought it was so cool. And it’s set in a completely different place. A big part of mine was where it was set, which is L.A. It wasn’t cold weather, it wasn’t a Chicago or New York film, it was an L.A. film, and it was much more of a Michael Mann kind of world, Collateral kind of world, than it was the original Bronson. And I think they’re going back to something that hews more closely to that, which is fine, but I’ll be interested to see what it does and what the reception is."
The interview was conducted with Collider, and shows a clear commitment to seeing his vision make it to the screen.
Source: Slashfilm
