Joe Carnahan Drops Death Wish Remake Over Casting

The Grey was a surprise hit when it was released last January, making more than three times its budget by the end of its global theatrical run, but director Joe Carnahan has been struck with some bad luck since. While the filmmaker had been talking to 20th Century Fox about a potential gritty reboot of the superhero Daredevil, the project couldn't come together quick enough and the rights to the character reverted back to Marvel Studios.

But then came the announcement that Carnahan would be working on a remake of the Charles Bronson classic Death Wish. While the news wasn't greeted too warmly by fans of the original, the director seemed enthusiastic about the opportunity and had an exciting visual aesthetic already in mind, with the idea of moving the story t0 Los Angeles and approaching the city similar to the way Nicolas Winding Refn did with 2011's Drive. But sadly it seems as though he'll never get to realize that vision.

Deadline is reporting that Carnahan and Paramount-MGM have parted ways over the Death Wish remake, citing creative differences in the casting. While the site doesn't mention who the director wanted to play the lead, apparently the studio was pushing for him to cast Bruce Willis. What this means for the future of the project is unknown.

Following the news reveal, Carnahan Tweeted the following:

See more

But don't worry about the filmmaker - he has more than a few titles in the hopper to keep him busy for a while, including the Groundhog Day-esque Continue, the adaptation of the graphic novel Undying Love, and the action movie Stretch with Patrick Wilson. The new report even says that he is thinking about Narco Sub, a film that had been one of Tony Scott's in-development projects before he died. It won't be long before Carnahan's name is stretched across the silver screen again.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.