As the year-end lists start to roll out proclaiming the best films of 2011, Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” seems to be receiving a lot of the love from critics and audiences alike. Though many will forget that Refn’s assured thriller found its basis in crime novelist John Sallis’ work, it looks like they will have a new chapter to the tale, as the author has revived the monosyllabic Driver character that Ryan Gosling portrayed on screen once again.
Twitch has learned that Sallis’ prose will see the continuation of the Driver storyline with “Driven,” which is expected to hit bookshelves in April 2012. Poisened Pen Press, who also oversaw the release of the first novel, provided the following little teaser: "Six years later – Phoenix. Out of nowhere someone wants Driver dead. Who? Why? Big mistake…"
So, not really much to go on, but considering the way the first novel/film ended, it’s intriguing to wonder if perhaps Driver’s current pursuers have anything to do with Bernie Rose’s fate (Albert Brooks’ villain character). Since our love for the adaptation of “Drive” is well documented, we wonder if Refn and Gosling would consider following-up their work on the forthcoming “Only God Forgives” and possible “Logan’s Run” remake with the second installment of Driver’s adventures. Refn’s film felt more like a self-contained character study than a film that warranted a continuation of its storyline though, so perhaps it would be better to let this character live on solely in book form.
We’ll have to wait a long time if this were to ever turn into a film, so for now we’ll just see the story continues when "Driven" arrives in April.
