Sylvester Stallone to Remake Death Wish, Talks "Yo, Poe"
Posted 10.01.09 by Ryan
Sylvester Stallone is suddenly finding himself very much in demand with the upcoming The Expendables and Rambo 5 on the horizon. He also told Empire that he may also add a remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson action thriller Death Wish to his workload.
I'm thinking about it. It's a classic morality tale, where you take a civilized man and take away everything that matters to him so he becomes primitive again. The story's been done many times, and when it's done well, it's an emotionally engaging film. The trouble with remakes is that people fall in love with the original. It's like peanut butter. If you try to change the taste of peanut butter, you're in trouble.
We've never thought of the long-running Death Wish series as peanut butter, considering the movies follow Bronson becoming a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered, but now that you mention it, Sly ... we still can't think of it that way.
While Stallone is interested in Death Wish, more than anything he wants to get his pet project, a biopic of Edgar Allen Poe, off the ground.
I keep telling my [Expendables] producer Avi Lerner, "Make Edgar Allan Poe!" He says, "Does he have a gun?" "No, he doesn't have a gun." "Can he throw a knife?" I say, "No, he writes poetry!"
For any Poe fans thinking Stallone wants to play the writer, don't worry. Stallone already agrees that would be poor casting.
Of course, I'm not playing Poe. "Yo, Poe!" It won't work! It'll be some young actor because he dies at 39, but it's gonna happen.
It'll be some tasty peanut butter, that's for sure.