Yesterday a batch of images arrived online to give us our first look at director Eli Roth's remake of DEATH WISH, but those pictures were just paving the way for the big event: the release of the film's first trailer, which can be seen below.
Inspired by the 1974 original, which starred Charles Bronson, and the Brian Garfield novel that film was based on, this new take on DEATH WISH finds Bruce Willis stepping into the role of
Paul Kersey, whose life is destroyed by a violent crime against his wife and daughter. Frustrated that the bad guys were not brought to justice for the nefarious act inflicted on his family, he starts hunting for the perpetrators himself.
Joe Carnahan gets the sole writing credit in the trailer, although Roth and Dean Georgaris have performed rewrites since Carnahan departed the project. Carnahan had been attached to direct the remake at one time, but dropped out when he disagreed with the studio over who should star in the film. MGM wanted Bruce Willis. Carnahan didn't. MGM got the star they wanted.
The involvement of Willis keeps me from being able to work up any enthusiasm for this film, but the trailer is entertaining and Roth has said they were trying to bring back "that great, classic Bruce Willis" with this one, so I'm willing to give it a chance.
Willis's co-stars include Beau Knapp, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dean Norris, Mike Epps, Kimberly Elise, and Ronnie Gene Blevins, with Elisabeth Shue and Camila Morrone as Kersey's wife and daughter.
DEATH WISH is scheduled to reach theatres on November 22, 2017.
