Joe Carnahan talks up Death Wish remake, calls it ugly and violent

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Having successfully explored the perils of the wilderness in THE GREY, Joe Carnahan is ready to examine the urban jungle in DEATH WISH, a remake of the classic 1974 Charles Bronson vigilante thriller. Normally I wouldn’t be very engaged in the idea of remaking the film, but with Carnahan at the helm, there’s a chance it will be just as mean and gritty as the original. And to hear Carnahan tell it, it’s going to be a nasty bastard indeed.

Appearing on The Radio Dan Show (via Collider), Carnahan laid out some details regarding the film. Read the excerpts below:

Where is he at with the script? “I’m winding it down. I haven’t really talked about this at length, but I’m getting to the end, and I’m extremely pleased with the way it’s shaping up. The movie business is a tricky business, it has its flows and it drops precipitously, so you just don’t know. We’re in very uncertain times, so that’s why a movie like Daredevil and Death Wish resonate because it’s current. It reminds us of the time when this country was on its ear. We were losing a war, and the President who was disgraced, and no body trusted anybody. And I think that’s where we’re at right now.”

When might the film start production? “I don’t know. I’m pretty rigorous about the drafts I turn in. I don’t turn in something that’s so ungodly they go, “What the hell is this?” I’m not trying to turn a Dostoyevsky, this tome of thousand of pages, but it’s probably bigger than it needs to be right now, so I have to do a little editorializing, a little finessing. But the action is there. It’s short and ugly and violent, but it’s characters I’m interested in. The simplicity of violence versus the complexity of vengeance is what that movie’s about.”

Short and ugly and violent? ‘Nuff said, Joe.

Finally, how much is Carnahan looking at the original film? ” I’m not. I thought it was important to have my own ideas and let that idea inspire the story. I think you get into trouble when you start having to get too—his name is Paul Kersey, I’m not going to change that—but I’ve changed some other things, but beyond that are spoilers that I shan’t be revealing at this time. I think everybody’s going to be pleased.”

Will be tough – nay, impossible – to please “everybody,” but I’m glad Joe’s giving it the old college try!