Drive really got the booty end of the box office stick last year, and there really isn't a good explanation as for why. The film had some of the best reviews of 2011, turning up on a number of Top 10 lists, including my own. With Nicolas Winding Refn's eclectic mix of brains and brawn helping to turn Ryan Gosling into a certified leading man, the film should have been a leadpipe, stone cold hit. And yet....
Anyway, the poor box office performance hasn't cooled my desire for a sequel, nor the studios apparently. We learned last year that Driven, author James Sallis' book sequel to Drive was being released in April, and now that it's been out for a few months, he seems pretty confident in it, telling The Independent (via ThePlaylist) that a film is "in the pipeline" and that the studios "love the book".
Now that doesn't mean much, but it does mean talks are underway with somebody. The biggest question is whether or not Gosling and Refn would come back. A sequel without Gosling as the tortured hero, Driver, would immediately be considered inferior, and would likely end up straight to VOD or something. Sallis, for his part, has been writing the character only with Gosling in mind...
Sallis: "It was difficult not to visualize Ryan Gosling playing the role when I wrote the sequel," Sallis also said. "I think he really made the character his own. Of course, they made changes in the script – but it has the blood, heart and guts of the book – it feels like my film."
So where exactly is Driver in the book? It's been seven years since he finished off mobster, Bernie Rose, and he's now living in Phoenix under the name Paul West. He's a successful businessman, and engaged to be married. However, his past comes calling unexpectedly, leaving his fiancee for dead, and forcing Driver to revisit the violence he tried to leave behind. Sounds pretty awesome, and it's the next book in my queue to be read, so hopefully I'll have more insights on it. It'll likely be a few years if this even happens, especially if the goal is to bring back Gosling and Refn, so we'll just have to hold tight and keep an eye out for any news.
