Ryan Gosling’s 2011 film, Drive, was on the receiving end of unending praise from fans and critics alike, and today, it flaunts an impressive RT score of 93%. When Ryan Gosling signed on for the film, he had the opportunity to choose whichever director he wanted for the film and decided to go with Danish filmmaker, Nicolas Winding Refn.
Prior to Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn had sat in the director’s chair for films like Valhalla Rising and Fear X. His direction was praised by a majority of the audience; however, it looks like not everyone thought Drive was a good idea at the start. While Drive built itself a following after its release, Nicolas Winding Refn once stated that the studios didn’t want to do the film.
Studios Didn’t Want to Make Ryan Gosling’s Drive
First things first, Nicolas Winding Refn has made it loud and clear that a sequel to Drive is not happening. Ever. He told Inverse in 2016 that “No, there will never be a second Drive movie,” adding that film’s imperfect ending is “why it works.”
The studios, though, definitely wanted Refn to make a sequel for the Ryan Gosling-starrer after they witnessed the film’s commercial success. Refn stated that there was “a lot of talk” to make a sequel, but the “studios didn’t want to do it, originally.”
In an interview with Collider, while talking about The Neon Demon, he stated that it was intriguing how people call Drive a commercial success despite the fact that no one was into the idea in the first place. He revealed that people even got their names detached from the film but wanted it reattached once they saw the positive response.
“Well, it’s interesting when you say Drive was a commercial movie because nobody liked it when I made it…When I was making it, everyone was like, ‘Oh man, you blew your chance.’ There were even people who had their names removed, and then when it premiered they wanted their names back on.”
Well, of course, they wanted their names linked back to Drive. After its release, the movie was the most-featured film on critics’ year-end top 10 list. A lot of tabloids even chose Drive as the best film of the year. If only they believed in the film initially!
Ryan Gosling On Nicolas Winding Refn Being Perfect for The Job
Gosling talked about all things Drive with Collider where he revealed why he thought Refn would be the best choice as the movie’s filmmaker. He stated that he watched Valhalla Rising and found his films to be “deeply rooted in mythology” and “personal.”
“I went to see Valhalla Rising. His films are very deeply rooted in mythology and they feel like fairy tales and I felt like the movie should have a fairy tale quality…I was watching his films and seeing that they were like Grimms brothers’ fairy tales. They are also very personal. He’s a fetishist. He only shoots what he wants to see. He doesn’t shoot anything that he doesn’t actually find erotic. I appreciate how personal his films are and that they have a real identity. They don’t try to please anyone, but him.”
One thing that’s certain is that Gosling put a lot of thought into the decision before bringing Refn on board. The decision sure worked out in the movie’s favor! On a budget of $15 million, Drive reeled in $81 million at the worldwide box office.
You can rent/buy Drive from Prime Video.
Source: Collider
