Punisher 2 has a director!

Hailing from ‘Red Rock West’

Yesterday Thomas Jane dropped out of “The Punisher 2”.

By 5pm, every “Punisher” fan in the country decided they wouldn’t be going to see the film – not just because Jane’s no longer playing Frank Castle in it, but because the actor essentially said the reason he left the project was because the script was smellier than Paris Hilton’s nether regions.

Whether that’s true or not isn’t that point, what is is that the film the film has scored a remarkable director –someone who may be able to put some polish on the turd (if he doesn’t get pushed into a corner by a bawdy Lionsgate accountant).

According to Freeze Dried Movies, the crafty John Dahl (“Roadkill”, “Red Rock West”) has been signed to direct the film.

Smart choice. He’s not exactly known for his action films, but he’s definitely a fantastic filmmaker – he was the Fincher before there was a Fincher. He always comes up with something different and intriguing… cast your mind back to some of his films… “Red Rock West”, “Kill Me Again”, “Unforgettable”, “The Last Seduction”…. All terrific movies with killer twists and a real unique vision behind them. In more recent years he helmed the entertaining two-hander “Rounders” starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, and one of my favourite road thrillers of recent years, “Joyride” – or “Roadkill” as it was known here in Australia – a nail biting companion piece to Eric Red’s “The Hitcher” that showcased the director’s knack for pushing his audience closer to the edge of their seats. And whilst his last film was a bit of a disappointment – “The Great Raid”, filmed here in Australia – it proved he can work with actors plus make an average script well, seem not so average on screen.

I’m intrigued to see what Dahl can do with “The Punisher”. He always injects a sense of humour into his on-screen characters (think Fiorentino in “The Last Seduction” or Nicolas Cage in “Red Rock West”) so he could be the right man to give us the multi-faceted Frank Castle we haven’t really seen before. He’s also bound to make sure the script’s as good as it can be before he starts lensing.

If he can’t twist Thomas Jane’s arm into returning, then lets hope Dahl snags an interesting replacement (and casts a good ‘Jigsaw’, the villain of the picture).