Ryan Gosling replaces Hugh Jackman behind the wheel of Drive

For a few years, Hugh Jackman had planned to star in the vehicular action flick DRIVE, but apparently it stalled. Ran out of gas. Couldn’t find a good mechanic. Whatever hackneyed car analogy you like.

Now it seems that Ryan Gosling is ready and willing to stomp on the accelerator. According to Empire, the actor is now revving up for Universal’s adaptation of the really short James Sallis novel.

The modern noir tale is set in the seamy underside of Southern California, and follows a Hollywood stuntman simply known as Driver who fills his downtime as a robbery wheelman, until a job goes awry and he ends up with a price on his head.

Original director Neil Marshall (THE DESCENT, DOOMSDAY) has also left skid marks, and Nicolas Winding Refn (BRONSON, PUSHER) is now steering the project.

Gosling hasn’t really tried his hand/foot at action (not counting appearances on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues”), but it should be interesting to see him stretch into the genre with the guy who put Mads Mikkelsen on the map and gave Tom Hardy such a meaty role to chew.