Movies With Butter

Joe Carnahan was brought in to write and direct the Death Wish remake, but, now, he's no longer directing the movie because he and the studios couldn't see eye-to-eye over who to cast for the lead role.

According to Deadline, Paramount and MGM wanted Bruce Willis to play the Paul Kersey character, but Carnahan wanted to go with Bryan Cranston.

We can see why the studio would want someone like Bruce Willis since he has more name recognition and is, let's face it, a bigger box office draw. Someone like Cranston, who is probably better for the movie, won't do it for their bottom line.

Carnahan is not someone who's afraid to walk away from a project if he doesn't like the direction it's going. He left Mission: Impossible III after spending a year and a half on it, after all. Since the studios are not giving him freedom to cast who he wants in the movie, he walked.

Now that Carnahan is free from Death Wish, he can move on to a number of projects he's attached to direct like Continue, Undying Love, Stretch, and White Jazz.

According to Frank Grillo, the Death Wish remake won't just be about the Paul Kersey character.

"[Joe Carnahan] is imagining it as a two hander, it's not just Bronson's [character], it's two brothers," Grillo said.

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