Update: Variety reports film will start production in November for a second half 2012 release. Ryan Gosling is replacing Luke Evans who had scheduling conflicts with Peter Jackson‘s “The Hobbit” in which he plays Bard The Bowman.
Looks like best buds for life, Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn, can’t keep their hands off each other. While they’re currently riding high off the success of “Drive” which is killing with festival audiences, have “Logan’s Run” in the works and (possibly) some kind of rom-com on the distant horizon, it looks like Refn doesn’t want to stray too far from his muse just yet as he’s gone ahead and put the actor in his next film.
Twitch reveals that according to their sources, Gosling and Refn will reteam on “Only God Forgives.” The picture has been slowly building up a cast over the past little while with Luke Evans, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm and popstar Yaya Ying all said to be involved for what was supposed to be an August start, but it looks like that may change. The film is now said to be shooting this fall, which certainly makes sense as Gosling has “The Place Beyond the Pines” rolling next month which he’ll follow with “Gangster Squad.” How this will shake up the casting for the film as we know it — will Luke Evans still be involved? — remains to be seen.
The rough outline of the plot has the story centering on a Thai police lieutenant whose rivalry with a gangster sees the two settling their differences in a Thai boxing match. Sounds pretty awesome and the official synopsis reveals more, even if it’s still somewhat elusive:
Julian is on the run from the British police. He runs a Thai Boxing club in Bangkok which is a front for a drugs smuggling operation. He is well respected within the criminal underworld, but deep in his heart he feels that his life is lacking something. He meets a retired cop, The Angel of Vengeance, and finds out that he has to confront his mother.
Again, this isn’t official and this all could change, but we can’t say we’re too surprised either. Is this the De Niro/Scorsese pairing for our generation? If so, that’s pretty awesome. “Drive” rolls into theaters on September 16th.