It was last month that Big Bad Wolves helmers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado parted ways from the currently brewing Death Wish remake which had been set to commence filming this summer for MGM and Paramount. This week, the word now is that genre director Eli Roth (Knock Knock, The Green Inferno) will direct from a script treatment by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski with Roger Birnbaum producing.
Bruce Willis who is set to lead the remake in what is being worked i to a hopeful franchise, retelling the story of a New York City architect cornered into taking the law into his own hands for the death of his wife and rape of his daughter. The original franchise was adapted for the screen from author Brian Garfield’s 1972 novel, which led to a successful five-film franchise that made actor Charles Bronson a household name. Saw and Furious Seven helmer James Wan turned to his own loose revisit of the 2007 Kevin Bacon actioner, Death Sentence.
Point in fact, Deadline‘s report also points out that Keshales and Papushado left due to creative differences Willis signed off on that the studio didn’t approve of in its course toward a franchise. That makes me curious about what the two helmers had in mind about their vision. Their’s is an award-winning craft and so I’m pretty intrigued, but I do hope Roth can certainly lend this package the right amount of meat and flavor to make Death Wish a thing again.
Stay tuned!