Gosling takes lead in Refn's Only God Forgives

IN PRODUCTION. "Drive" duo Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling team up for Refn's Bangkok noir "Only God Forgives", produced with support from the Danish Film Institute.

While "Drive" impressed the gala audience last week at the Los Angeles Film Festival , the final pieces of Nicolas Winding Refn's new film "Only God Forgives" have fallen into place, confirming that Ryan Gosling will take the lead in the film, alongside Kristin Scott Thomas.

"Feels right"

"Only God Forgives" is a Danish-French coproduction and is set in Bangkok's seamy underworld of gangsters and crime. Gosling will be taking on the role of Julian who lives in the Asian megacity at far reach from the British police. Here he runs a Thai Boxing club as a front for the family's smuggling operations. When Julian's brother Billy is killed, their mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) seeks vengeance …

"What can I say … It just feels right," Refn comments on his continuing collaboration with Gosling. "We worked on 'Drive' together, now it's 'Only God Forgives', and later we will continue with 'Logan's Run'. It's hard to say what makes it work between us. It just does. I guess my take is, 'why not keep on going, then." 

Preproduction in October

"Only God Forgives" is the first of two films – second film carries the title "I Walk With the Dead" – that Refn and producer Lene Børglum are making with their French partners Wild Bunch and Gaumont. "I'm really happy to be doing this with them. Also, things are working out very well with my producer Lene Børglum. Our collaboration has enabled us to start our own company Space Rocket Nation."

Preproduction for "Only God Forgives" starts in October. Shooting is scheduled for February. The film has received production support from the Danish Film Institute.