FilmDistrict Takes Distribution Rights To Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’
The first big sale out of the American Film Market is forDrive, the first big American film directed by the creator ofPusher,BronsonandValhalla Rising,Nicolas Winding Refn.
Deadlinereports that FilmDistrict picked up distribution rights for a late summer or early fall 2011 release. What is FilmDistrict? That’s the new company put together by Graham King and Tim Headington of GK Films and run by Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney, who exited Appartition right before Cannes this year. The idea behind FilmDistrict, says Deadline, is to pick up and distribute well-cast films that can play runs of 1500 to 2000 screens.Drivecertainly has a great cast.Ryan Goslingstars as a stuntman by day, getaway driver by night who has to flee for his life after a heist goes wrong. The supporting cast featuresCarey Mulligan,Bryan Cranston,Albert BrooksandChristina Hendricks.
If you’re confused and thinking, “hey, wasn’t this a Universal film?” don’t worry.It was at one point, when Neil Marshall was going to direct. But it is being shot as an indie right now. And that’s where FilmDistrict comes in. Hopefully this company will prove to be more stable than Apparition was; this is a great pickup and a film that we’ve been excited to see.
James Salliswrote the original novel, the synopsis of which is below, andHossein Aminiwrote the script draft that got Nicolas Refn on board; the director has done rewrites.
In Drive, [Sallis] combines murder, treachery, and payback in a sinister plot resembling 1940s pulp fiction and film noir. Told through a complex, cinematic narrative that weaves back and forth through time and place, the story explores Driver’s near-existential moral foundations while revisiting its root cause: his hardscrabble, troubled childhood.
