The Playlist

'Drive' Star Ryan Gosling Sets His Sights On The Director's Chair

By Leah Zak
|
September 9, 2011 5:55 AM
|
3 Comments

Talks Developing ‘Logan’s Run;’ Remains Suspiciously Coy On Malick ProjectIt seems somewhat unnecessary to provide an introduction for Ryan Gosling. America’s Canadian Sweetheart has cultivated a resume over the years that makes him nearly impossible to avoid. In 2010 and 2011 alone he’s had leading turns in the independent drama “Blue Valentine,” the summer comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” this fall’s neo-noir/fairy tale, “Drive,” and premiering soon at TIFF, political drama “The Ides of March.” But during press rounds for “Drive,” the actor, whose slate of upcoming projects appears to grow on a daily basis, revealed that there is in fact a method to his madness, “There’s a lot of filmmakers that I want to work with before I make my own films,” he said, “and I’m getting a chance to work with them.”

More:

Carey Mulligan To Star In Nicolas Winding Refn's Sex Thriller 'I Walk With The Dead'

By The Playlist
|
September 3, 2011 11:22 AM
|
8 Comments

If you need an indication that the colorful A-list cast of Nicolas Winding Refn's hotly-tipped genre noir "Drive" got on with the Danish filmmaker like a house on fire, look no further than Refn's next few projects for proof. Shooting next, the Bangkok-set neo-Western "Only God Forgives" will also star lead "Drive" actor Ryan Gosling (alongside Kristin Scott Thomas), the "Half Nelson" actor is also developing a "Logan's Run" remake with Refn, and there's even been talk of a romantic comedy for the duo that would be written by "Drive" heavy Albert Brooks.

More:

Nicolas Winding Refn Says Ryan Gosling May Appear In Terrence Malick's Next Film

By Simon Dang
|
August 25, 2011 12:59 PM
|
3 Comments

'Drive' Director Also Says Another Carey Mulligan Collaboration In The WorksIs Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling's upcoming modern adaptation of classic sci-fi "Logan's Run" set to be delayed by a teaming between the latter and renowned auteur Terrence Malick? Apparently so, according to Film School Rejects, who were on hand at a Q&A with the director for his latest effort "Drive."

More:

Empire Big Screen '11 Review: Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Drive' Reminds Us Why We Love The Movies

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
August 16, 2011 4:02 AM
|
7 Comments

Good god, it's been a bad year at the cinema. It's not so much that there've been a lot of awful films, although of course there have. It's more that there have been a lot of deeply average ones, and very little greatness to share around. Even the better end of the scale, it's not quite scratched the right itch for us: as good as, say, "Beginners" or "Win Win" or "Midnight in Paris" are, they don't quite get the synapses firing in the way that truly great cinema does. It's the kind of thing that the crime flick has always done well -- there's a reason that the Cahiers du Cinema crowd worshiped early American genre pictures, for example, but there's been little to be excited about even in that department. So it's lucky that Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" has come along: it's a shot of pure cinema straight to the eyeball, and one that's stopped us from losing the faith just as we were about to start looking for gigs at What Yacht Magazine.

More:

Empire Big Screen '11: Nicolas Winding Refn Says 'Wonder Woman' A Go If He Does 'Logan's Run' Right

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
August 16, 2011 1:37 AM
|
3 Comments

Plus Nine More Things We Learned From The 'Drive' DirectorMore and more of The Playlist team are catching up with Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive," and every one of us that has seen it has loved it: it's easily one of the best movies of the year. The film was the secret screening at Empire Big Screen in London on Saturday night (we'll have a full review later), and Refn came up for a Q&A afterwards, moderated by the magazine's Damon Wise, which revealed a few insights into his top-notch crime drama, as well as an update on the status on what Refn hopes will be his biggest film to date. Below, ten highlights from the Q&A. Warning: some mild spoilers for "Drive" may be ahead.

More:

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

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
August 1, 2011 6:53 AM
|
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.

More:

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

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
July 21, 2011 11:02 AM
|
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.

More:

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

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
June 30, 2011 1:43 AM
|
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.

More:

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

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
June 20, 2011 1:20 AM
|
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.

More:

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

By Matthew Newlin
|
June 19, 2011 11:47 AM
|
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.

More: