MGM has released the first Death Wish trailer. Eli Roth’s upcoming remake stars Bruce Willis as Paul Kersey, a mild-mannered Chicago architect who goes on a quest for bloody revenge after his wife (Elizabeth Shue) and daughter (Camila Morrone) are the victims of a violent home invasion.
Charles Bronson starred in the original 1974 film, which spawned four sequels. Joe Carnahan (The Grey) penned the script for the remake. The movie will be Bruce Willis’ first starring role in a theatrically released feature since 2013’s RED 2. For Roth, this is his first foray into the action genre after making his name with horror films like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and The Green Inferno.
This trailer is kind of all over the place. The film very much looks like it wants to be in the vein of John Wick, Taken, or even a street-level superhero movie, but I can't tell if it wants to actually take the violence seriously or if it's tackling it gleefully. Roth is certainly a curious choice to direct, and indeed Joe Carnahan was originally in line to direct this remake from his own script before parting ways over creative differences. Carnahan remains the only credited screenwriter, which is also interesting because in the wake of leaving the project, Carnahan expressed his desire to someday retool his screenplay into a different version of what that film would've been.
Alas, here we're left with the Death Wish remake that MGM wanted to see, as envisioned by Roth, and to be honest I'm not quite sure what to make of it just yet. If the opening of the trailer is to be believed and this film actually wants to tackle the violence on the streets of Chicago today, making a shoot-em-up actioner where Bruce Willis violently murders bad guys for fun doesn't seem like the wisest of decisions.
Check out the Death Wish remake trailer below. The film also stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Jack Kesy, Dean Norris, and Mike Epps.
Here’s the official synopsis for Death Wish:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures presents director Eli Roth's reimagining of the classic 1974 revenge thriller Death Wish. Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) is a surgeon who only sees the aftermath of Chicago violence when it is rushed into his ER - until his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home. With the police overloaded with crimes, Paul, burning for revenge, hunts his family's assailants to deliver justice. As the anonymous slayings of criminals grabs the media's attention, the city wonders if this deadlyvigilante is a guardian angel or a grim reaper. Fury and fate collide in the intense, action-thriller Death Wish.
Paul Kersey becomes a divided person: A man who saves lives, and a man who takes them; a husband and father trying to take care of his family, and a shadowy figure fighting Chicago crime; a surgeon extracting bullets from suspects' bodies, and the vigilante called "The Grim Reaper" who detectives are quickly closing in on.
Updated from the original novel by Brian Garfield, director Eli Roth and screenwriter Joe Carnahan's (The Grey, Narc) Death Wish also stars Vincent D'Onofrio (The Magnificent Seven, TV's Daredeviland Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Camila Morrone, Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) and Kimberly Elise (The Great Debaters). It's a knife's-edge portrayal that challenges our assumptions, and pushes our buttons.
By bringing the complex psychology of Brian Garfield's book up-to-the-moment and injecting new thrills and a stark, unflinchinglook at the American psyche in 2017, Eli Roth and Death Wish brings audiences to the height of unforgettable suspense.
A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures production, Death Wish is set for release on November 22, 2017. It will be distributed in the U.S. by APR and internationally by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Death Wish stars Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise. Directed by Eli Roth.Screenplay by Joe Carnahan, based on the 1974 Motion Picture by Wendell Mayes from the Novel by Brian Garfield. Producer, Roger Birnbaum. Associate Producer, Stephen J. Eads. Executive Producer, Ilona Herzberg. Director of Photography, Rogier Stoffers.Edited by Mark Goldblatt. Music by Ludwig Göransson. Production Design by Paul Kirby. Costume Design by Mary Jane Fort.
