Catching up with Nicolas Winding Refn to talk about his ethereal, violent Viking meditation, Valhalla Rising, we learnt that his next project will be an adaptation of James Sallis' crime noir **Drive. It isn't all good news for fans of the Danish director, though. He's since confirmed that he won't now be making either the Paul Schrader scripted The Dying Of The Light or working with Keanu Reeves on Jekyll, the latest adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic tale.
"Unfortunately, it just didn't work out," Refn says of The Dying Of The Light. "It's a shame. The script was fantastic but things fall apart. It's one of those things that's difficult - I really like Harrison and I think we got along great."
The pair were due to start pre-production next month, but Refn will now concentrate instead on steering Ryan Gosling's heistman around LA in Drive. More's the pity. The pairing of one of cinema's up-and-coming auteurs with a character actor of Ford's stature was an intriguing one. Throw in that Schrader script and it could have been something special.
Refn's withdrawal from Jekyll, meanwhile, is a simple matter of clashing schedules. "I just couldn't do it when they needed me," he told us. "Keanu is a wonderful actor and I'm sure it will be a fantastic film with him in."
After Drive, Refn will be heading to Bangkok to make Only God Forgives, a long-time passion project he describes as a Western, followed by the Miami-set I Walk With The Dead. More on both as we get it.