Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive seemed to make just as big a splash at the Los Angeles Film Festival last week as it did in Cannes when I saw it and loved it. The film stars Ryan Gosling, whom the director is already scheduled to reteam with on a remake of Logan’s Run at Warner Bros. and both already confirmed with the Los Angeles Times they are planning on working together on a New York-set romantic comedy, which they hope they can convince Drive co-star Albert Brooks to write.
And speaking of Drive co-stars, Refn has plans for Christina Hendricks (pictured), the buxom red-head best known for her work on “Mad Men” who has a small role in the director’s latest film. Speaking with Vulture he commented on the not-so-secret fact that he wants to direct a Wonder Woman adaptation should he ever direct a superhero movie and that if he did Hendricks is who he would want in the lead role. “If I get to do it, she’s going to be it,” he said.
Oddly enough, back in December Hendricks already expressed a desire to play the part when rumors surfaced that she was actually being considered for the role. Last year she was asked by Rachel Ray about the rumors and said, “I’ve been wanting to wear that outfit my whole life! I’d love to [do it]. That would be such fun! … I had Underoos — I had Wonder Woman Underoos.”
Of course, the chances for a Wonder Woman film seem extremely bleak at the moment. Warner Bros. has been trying for a long time to get an adaptation of the character off the ground, including a film with Joss Whedon that got as far as having teaser art back in 2005 and then there is the recently canceled NBC pilot with Adrianne Palicki in the lead role, that never even saw the light of day.
Warner Bros., however, does need to decide what they’re going to do with their stable of DC Comics characters beyond Batman and Superman. This past weekend saw the release of Green Lantern amidst largely negative critical reaction and an already declining box-office. They have The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel coming out next year and there’s already talk of more Batman and a Justice League feature, but beyond that there really isn’t much else in the way of confirmed productions.
The fate of another Green Lantern film seems to be in the hands of overseas box-office receipts at this point. For the longest time we’ve heard rumblings of an Aquaman movie and one for The Flash and in the past we’ve seen largely failed attempts at bringing Jonah Hex and Catwoman to the big screen. Since I’m not a comic book reader I’m not sure what else there is. Is Wonder Woman the next logical step in an attempt for a general audience hit and a character that makes a $100+ million budget seem worthwhile? Is the combination of Refn and Hendricks enticing enough to sell both Warner Bros. and audiences?
I’m not sure, but maybe if Logan’s Run actually gets made and is a hit it can sort of serve as Refn’s Insomnia. After Christopher Nolan made Insomnia for Warner Bros. his next film was Batman Begins, and the rest is history. While Wonder Woman is no Batman, you never know, it could work.
However, before Refn gets to work on Logan’s Run, he’s already announced Only God Fogives will be his next film with Luke Evans (Immortals, The Hobbit) and Kristin Scott Thomas set to star. So any chance he takes over Wonder Woman seems like it may be in the distant future.
