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Neil Marshall Next Directing Hugh Jackman in Drive

by Alex Billington
March 20, 2008
Source: Variety

After showing us in Doomsday both how well he can shoot a Bentley driving at high speeds and how big of a flop one movie can be, director Neil Marshall is already gearing up for his next film - Drive. Based on a novel by James Sallis, the story is about a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway car driver in heists. Hugh Jackman is already attached to play the leader character and Universal wants to push this into the fast track and get it made this summer.

The script for Drive was adapted by Hossein Amini, of Jude, The Four Feathers, and Killshot. In the book, the stuntman's already-exciting existence gets jolted when he discovers that a contract has been put out on his life. Marshall explains his interest: "This is something I haven't done before, and I've wanted to bring a British sensibility to an L.A. shoot and a scorched classic film noir concept. Hoss is a fantastic writer, and he's written three amazing car chases in the film. He's turned them into dramatic scenes as opposed to the usual crash, bang, wallop. I would like to be shooting it this summer."

Although we previously announced that Marshall was also attached to a Universal horror film called Sacrilege, it sounds like he's trying to get Drive made before he goes back to his horror roots. After seeing Doomsday over the weekend and being quite unimpressed, I'm no longer confident in Marshall. I respect his enthusiasm for filmmaking (as documented here), but it doesn't mean he can turn out a good film. This sounds like a great concept and a fun idea that I hope he doesn't butcher like he did with Doomsday - but thankfully he didn't write this script. Anytime I hear stunt driver from now on, only one person comes to mind - Suntman Mike!

Do you think Neil Marshall could pull off a good stunt driving movie?

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nha

Does this book even have an ounce of horror to it? Looks like Neil might be selling out in my opinion!
Brad

Branching out into other genres is considered selling out nowadays?
Matt

That's ridiculous, selling out is definitely not branching out into other genres. I wish more film makers did this because then we'd always have fresh ideas from already great film makers. In my mind "selling out" would be when a writer/director/actor remains in the same genre that originally made them popular. I believe this shows an attitude of them just being in it for the money and not the art because of course a studio is going to want to pick you up for a genre your already famous for because they get a guaranteed product. It's when studios take risks on film makers where we end up with great original concepts. Imagine if the Cohen brothers did a Sci-fi flick or if Guillermo Del Toro brought his unique touch to a western...I get excited just thinking about it.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

I loved THE DESCENT but didn't even bother seeing DOOMSDAY because it feels like I saw it a hudnred different times before.
Stabmaster Arson

"Suntman Mike" huh? Top quality reporting here. And you gotta love how people throw around "flop" these days.
Zach D.

Giving up on a director after one bad film?
Spider

Neil Marshall is a pretty good director. I really liked, "The Descent". Hugh Jackman kicks a$$. I believe they're on to something here. It seems so promising! If Marshall can keep the campiness and unintentional humor off this flick, unlike "Doomsday", then that would be a great start. (Ryan, if you felt that way about seeing "Doomsday" then it's because you've already seen it time and time again, trust me. From "Resident Evil" to "28 Days Later" to " A Knight's Tale" to "Robin Hood" to even "The Road Warrior". Just about every movie in these genres gets ripped off. Then on top of that, when a movie shows you anachronistic(above all else) dance numbers to 80s music, you know the movie is absolute HILARIOUS CHEESE. I only went to see it because Rhona Mitra is hot.....but even then I still didn't like the flick.
Curtis

i don't get it just because he sent out one bad film (wasn't that bad) Just because he didn't make doomsday as good as his other two great films that mean he isn't a good director anymore. Last time i checked two is better then one. This could be a lot of fun and really put him on the fast track to having a great summer movie.