Drive Director Nicolas Winding Refn May Helm Button Man: The Killing Game

Those of you who are really looking forward to director Nicolas Winding Refn's remake of Logan's Run may have to wait a little bit longer for the project to come together, as it looks like a new one has popped up and will be fighting for Refn's attention.

Deadline reports that the director is now in talks to helm an adaptation of Button Man: The Killing Game, the graphic novel by John Wagner (who is best known for creating Judge Dredd) and Arthur Ranson. The story centers on Harry Exton, an ordinary hired gun who agrees to participate in a game set up by a bunch of millionaires in which he is forced to face off against some of the world's most dangerous killers in a fight to the death. When Exton grows tired of the game, he realizes that the only way to stop it is to go after the millionaires directly. Roger Kass, Josh Braun and Michael De Luca are attached to produce.

Refn, who is of Danish heritage, made his first feature film, Pusher, back in 1996, but became a big name when his Drive came out last year and was declared by critics to be one of the best titles of 2011. He recently completed work on his latest movie, Only God Forgives, which re-teams him with Ryan Gosling for a film about a gangster who squares off against a Bangkok police lieutenant in a Thai-boxing match. The film also stars Kristin Scott Thomas.

I must admit that as much as I like Nicolas Winding Refn this project doesn't sound that appealing. While I'm not saying that the source material ripped anybody off, the story sounds like a bizarre mix of The Running Man, Rat Race, and Predators, and just attempting to capitalize on the success of The Hunger Games. Then again, perhaps Refn is just talented enough to make it work and will turn it into something that feels more original.