The classic Charles Bronson ‘Death Wish’ films may be about to get a resurrection, which is good news. On the other hand, it seems MGM is looking at the possibility of having Sylvester Stallone as director and lead actor, which is bad news.
The writers of this remake of the 1974 revenge film are rumoured to be Michael Ferris and John Brancato, the guys behind ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’, yes the badly scripted one.
Depending on how quickly the Guild Writers strike gets settled, the film could go in to production as early as next March, with Stallone taking charge, and his partner, Kevin King, as a producer.
MGM chief operating officer Rick Sands told Variety:
“We are looking at our library to determine which potential franchise properties make the most sense for us to produce, and ‘Death Wish’ was clearly one of that jumped out. We hope to get a deal done with Sylvester Stallone to direct and star, and like the ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’ films, we see this as another potential franchise for him.”
Stallone has certainly seen his career back on the up recently after the success of ‘Rocky Balboa’ and the upcoming ‘Rambo’ film. But I’m not sure whether he’s the right man to bring ‘Death Wish’ up to 21st Century speed.
It worked so well with Charles Bronson in the role, and the films became cult classics because of him, but whether Stallone has that same every man quality is definitely open for debate.
