The Playlist

Joe Cornish, Justin Lin & Nicolas Winding Refn Join John Moore On Shortlist For 'Die Hard 5'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 1, 2011 6:53 AM
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16 Comments

Over the weekend, word cropped up that Noam Murro, previously attached to direct the forever gestating "Die Hard 5" had left the project to focus on "300: Battle Of Artemisia" with John Moore (“Behind Enemy Lines,” “Max Payne”) as a contender to take his place. Well, he's going to be facing some stiff competition.

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Comic-Con '11: Nicolas Winding Refn Says Getting His Cast Together For 'Drive' Was "Like Sex"

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 21, 2011 11:02 AM
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4 Comments

Panels and press conferences are pretty straightforward: get together the cast and crew, show some footage and answer some questions. But the folks at FilmDistrict had a bit of a light bulb "Eureka!" moment, deciding to pair up their films "Drive" and "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" in one panel and let two very chatty folks in Nicolas Winding Refn and Guillermo Del Toro share the stage and the result was one of the most entertaining panels of this still young Comic-Con, providing enough quips and quotes to fill a phone book. So here are some of the highlights.

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FilmDistrict Stay In The Nicolas Winding Refn/Ryan Gosling Business, Acquire 'Only God Forgives'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 30, 2011 1:43 AM
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0 Comments

You may not immediately recognize the name Graham King, but he's quietly established himself as one of the most successful producers out there, executive-producing the likes of "Traffic" and "Ali" as the head of financiers Initial Entertainment Group, before making his full-blown producing debut on "The Aviator." He re-teamed with Scorsese to win an Oscar for "The Departed," and has also produced films like "Blood Diamond," "The Town" and "Rango," the latter two through his new company, GK Films.

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Nicolas Winding Refn Wants To Cast Christina Hendricks As His 'Wonder Woman'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 20, 2011 1:20 AM
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11 Comments

Plus News From Director On The Red Carpet About 'Only God Forgives' and 'Logan's Run'Warner Bros. has been hoping that the void left by the imminent end of the "Harry Potter" franchise would be filled by the stable of DC Comics characters they own: "The Dark Knight" is already a billion-dollar hit, and any number of similar characters are in various stages of development, including a new take on Superman, "Man Of Steel." But things didn't get off to a good start this weekend, with the filmmaking-by-committee of "Green Lantern" severely underperforming, and looking unlikely to make its money back theatrically.

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'Drive' Duo Ryan Gosling & Nicolas Winding Refn To Re-Team For Romantic Comedy

By Matthew Newlin
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June 19, 2011 11:47 AM
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3 Comments

Director And Star Trying To Push Albert Brooks To WriteThough his Cannes Best Director winning film "Drive" doesn't hit theaters until the fall, director Nicolas Winding Refn is already lining up a future project with his star Ryan Gosling. In addition to their remake of "Logan's Run," the two have announced plans to make yet another film together, this time a romantic comedy. Refn has already announced the plot of his next film, "Only God Forgives," but recently told the L.A. Times that he and Gosling are hoping to work again on a comedy project in the near future. As if that news wasn't earth-shattering enough for you, Refn and Gosling are trying to persuade "Drive" co-star Albert Brooks to write the screenplay.

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Beef Watch: Nicolas Winding Refn 'Repulsed' By Lars Von Trier! Von Trier Says 'Fuck Him'! Porno!

By Gabe Toro
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May 20, 2011 3:52 AM
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6 Comments

Another day, another right turn to the ridiculously stupid fall-out from Lars Von Trier's "nazi" statements. Good old humorless reporters at Cannes loved raking noted provocateur Lars Von Trier over the coals for his joking "pro-Nazi" stance before the organization dubbed him persona non grata. The next step, of course, is the reaction from other filmmakers. This should be fun.

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Jessica Chastain Talks Malick & 'Wettest County,' Martin Campbell Won't Return For 'Green Lantern'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 19, 2011 12:53 PM
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0 Comments

Nicolas Winding Refn Producing Icelandic Gangster Thriller 'Black's Game,' Summit Pick Up Dwayne Johnson Vehicle 'Snitch,' & More News From The Cannes BacklogMore news seems to break during Cannes than at any other time during the year, as you might have noticed. And, while we've done our darndest to cover everything, a few things have slipped through the cracks. But because we're completists, and because our loved ones abandoned us a long time ago, we're going to try and run everything down quickly below, and in our post from earlier this afternoon. So, with no further ado:

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Cannes Review: Nicolas Winding Refn's Low-Slung '80s Crime Drama 'Drive' Has A Dark Majesty

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 19, 2011 12:22 PM
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14 Comments

Why is "Drive" -- a seemingly trivial affair about a stuntman and part-time getaway driver, played by Ryan Gosling, pulled into deep and bloody waters on the neon-and-streetlight lit streets of L.A. -- even at Cannes, let alone in competition? It's not merely because of the bloody-but-brilliant background of director Nicolas Winding Refn, whose films (the "Pusher" trilogy, "Bronson," "Valhalla Rising") have demonstrated both an eye for composition and a taste for the jugular. It's not merely because of the film's cinematic roots, with the production seemingly crafted as a clear tribute to '80s-era Michael Mann and other synthesizer-and-faux-leather action-crime stories. Rather, you can make a case that "Drive" is here because action cinema and genre cinema are too important -- and too exciting, enthralling and, yes, artful when well made -- to be merely dismissed as suitable only for hacks to make and dolts to watch. French enthusiasm for American crime cinema from the '40s and '50s gave us the vocabulary and value set to truly appreciate film noir -- and anyone who can truly appreciate film noir will appreciate "Drive."

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Watch: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan & Bryan Cranston In New Clip From Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Drive'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 17, 2011 6:30 AM
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12 Comments

Plus A Ton Of New Images From The FilmWe're only a few days for the Cannes premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive," easily one of our most anticipated films of the year, and we can barely contain ourselves: in fact, we've built a cardboard car in the center of The Playlist office and are currently sitting in it with a full-sized body pillow of Oscar Isaac. Fortunately, a healthier way of passing the time before the film arrives at the festival on Thursday has arrived, with Rope of Silicon debuting a new two-minute clip from the film.

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Nicolas Winding Refn Says REO Speedwagon Helped Him & Ryan Gosling Seal The 'Drive' Deal

By Edward Davis
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May 15, 2011 4:30 AM
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0 Comments

While Nicolas Winding Refn's "noir thriller Drive" threatens to be one of the most talked about films of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, especially considering its A-list cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks and "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston to name a few, the film has not screened so far, nor has the cast assembled to talk about it yet.

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