More evidence that it's an amazing time to be a comic book fan has emerged with the news that an adaptation of John Wagner(Judge Dredd) and Arthur Ranson's awesome graphic novel series, Button Man, is being developed for the big screen by Dreamworks. The four issue series is almost like The Hunger Games, but featuring older warriors rather than young kids. It's one that I've been hoping someone would finally take a stab at making, and with word that Nicolas Winding Refn is in talks to direct it, there's even more reason to get excited.
It's material that fits neatly into the very masculine(although Refn would apparently disagree with that assessment) nature of his previous films, including last year's critical hit, Drive. He'd be tackling the first book in the series, Button Man: The Killing Game, which follows Harry Exton, an ex-mercenary who battles other mercenaries to the death in an underground. Each is employed by a wealthy benefactor known as a "Voice", who makes money by gambling on the outcome. When Exton decides to quit the game, he discovers that it isn't so easy, and the only way to ever be free may be to kill off all the "Voices".
This sounds as if it may still be in the very early stages, especially since Refn has a lot of stuff coming up. He recently completed Only God Forgives with Ryan Gosling, and probably next will be the Carey Mulligan-led erotic horror, I Walk With the Dead. And then of course there's that eagerly awaited Logan's Run remake, again alongside Gosling.
The question now is who would possibly take the Exton role? This project has been cooking for a few years now, and the name Leonardo DiCaprio is one that popped up before. Or could we be looking at another Refn/Gosling collabo? Personally, my hope is that another of Refn's stars, Mads Mikkelsen, gets the job. [Deadline]
