Neil Marshall To Take Hugh Jackman For A Drive

British director Neil Marshall (Doomsday) has signed up to direct Hugh Jackman in Drive, an adaptation of the novel by James Sallis.

The plot of the film follows Jackman’s character – a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for robberies. However, things take a turn for the worse when he discovers that somebody has put out a contract on his life. Expect lots of car-based mayhem.

The Universal Picture which has been scripted by Hossein Amini is scheduled to begin shooting this summer. Time will tell though if Jackman will indeed star, as the actor has a schedule packed as tight as Posh Spice’s suitcase.

The first time I came into contact with Neil Marshall’s work was when I saw the trailer for Dog Soldiers at the cinema (you yanks would call that a movie theater). It was a neat spin on the TA soldier recruitment adverts that screen over here in the UK. There was enough originality in the trailer to make me watch the film, and it blew me away. It was one of the best British made films in the last 25 years.

His follow up The Descent lacked the dark humor of Dog Soldiers, but it also ratcheted up the tension, delivering a first rate horror film that was quite a success at the box office.

I haven’t yet seen Doomsday, but it looks like a good mix of early John Carpenter and the Mad Max films, and what is there not to like about that?

As much as I like the concept of this film and the fact that Jackman is starring, I see it as a step back for Marshall. I think that he is a talented writer-director with a unique voice and I would hate to see him become a hack for hire in Hollywood. Maybe Drive could be something special, maybe an action packed version of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Marshall is quoted as saying:

“This is something I haven’t done before, and I’ve wanted to bring a British sensibility to an L.A. shoot and a scorched classic film noir concept. Hoss is a fantastic writer, and he’s written three amazing car chases in the film. He’s turned them into dramatic scenes as opposed to the usual crash, bang, wallop. I would like to be shooting it this summer.”

At the very least we should see another Marshall horror classic soon as he has Sacrilege in the pipeline; which Variety calls; “a horror story set in the Old West.”

I’ll pretty much watch anything Marshall makes following The Descent and Dog Soldiers, so I’ll put my faith in his talent and say that I’m looking forward to this. I just hope that he walks away from Hollywood unscathed.

Source: Variety