Daredevil and Heisenberg, look away now. Deadline is reporting that the Eli Roth-directed Death Wish has enlisted Vincent D’Onofrio and Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris.
A remake of the Charles Bronson thriller of the same name – itself an adaptation of Brian Garfield’s novel – D’Onofrio and Dean Norris will now join Bruce Willis in the overhaul, which has set up shop over at MGM and Paramount. Indeed, this two-fold casting coup is a real sign of progress for Death Wish, given the project has spent the past few years languishing on the fringes of development.
During that time, Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Big Bad Wolves) were in line to helm Paramount’s remake before last-minute script changes forced the directing pair to bow out. Joe Carnahan (The Grey and, soon, Bad Boys For Life) also contributed to the screenplay during its formative years, before Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were drafted in to polish Death Wish into the feature that Eli Roth will soon take the reins on.
If you’re not up to speed on Garfield’s novel, or if you’ve yet to check out Bronson’s own version from ’74, Death Wish follows “a man named Paul Kersey (Willis) whose life is destroyed by a violent crime against his wife and daughter. Frustrated the bad guys were not brought to justice for the violence and degradation the thugs inflicted on his family, he starts hunting for the perpetrators himself.”
Montreal and Chicago will play host to Death Wish when Eli Roth’s long-gestating remake enters production late next month. Expect D’Onofrio, Norris and Willis to share the screen at some stage in 2017.