Nicolas Winding Refn Plans RomCom With Ryan Gosling, Would Cast Christina Hendricks As Wonder Woman
Nicolas Winding Refncould own 2011 and 2012. The director has been one of our faves for some time thanks to thePushertrilogy,Bronson, andValhalla Rising, and his action thrillerDrive, withRyan Gosling, generatedgreat buzzat Cannes andwonMr. Refn the Best Director prize.Driverecently premiered in LA, and the director was on the red carpet to answer questions from press. In doing so, he talked about another film that he and Ryan Gosling would like to do after theirLogan’s Runremake, which he described as a romantic comedy. He also continued to press the idea of directingWonder Woman, in which he would castDriveco-starChristina Hendricks.
First up: the romcom. The impish Mr. Refn told theLA Times,
We’re doing a comedy, andAlbert Brookspromised he’d write the screenplay… Well, that’s not exactly true. But print it and we’ll make it true.
To clarify, Ryan Gosling added: “We’re definitely going to do a comedy, and we’re trying desperately to get [Brooks] to write it.” Albert Brooks, remember, is theantagonistinDrive(in addition to being an acclaimed writer/director) and earned particularly good notes for that role at Cannes.
Nicolas Winding Refn says the film is set in New York, or, I guess, that it would be set in New York. Will this one ever happen? Can’t make that call based on the info we have, but I love the idea. It would be a big genre change-up from the director, and I’m happy to see that he and Ryan Gosling are interested in making a few films together.
And then there’s Wonder Woman. Last year in an interview with the BBC,Mr. Refn said,
I guess one of the aims I am having, but at the very early stage, I always wanted to do Wonder Woman as a feature film…Well, I would say that Wonder Woman is probably something that, to me, would be not just a satisfaction, but almost a [catharsis], and I was born to make it.
That idea seemingly hasn’t gone away. At the Drive premiere, during a conversation withVulture, the director talked briefly about Wonder Woman, and pointed at Christina Hendricks saying, “If I ever get to do it, she’s going to be it.”
Granted, after this weekend’s opening forGreen Lantern, we’ll see how Warner Bros. addresses the idea of doing further superhero films that aren’t Batman or Superman. They’ll probably still happen, but how and when might be another question. But if you were going to give a film like that to someone, this would seem to be the guy — he’s proved time and again that he can deliver the goods on a budget. And ifDriveand (more likely)Logan’s Runprove that he can also play to the mainstream,Wonder Womanmight actually happen.
Before either of these get made, however, there isOnly God Forgives, thewestern thriller set in Asiathat Mr. Refn will make later this summer withLuke EvansandKristin Scott Thomas. After that he’ll get toLogan’s Run, which is set up with Joel Silver and Warner Bros. — i.e., the same people who have been developingWonder Womanfor years.
