Neveldine/Taylor Give 'Crank 3' Update And Talk Remaking 'The Warriors'

We've been hearing about a possible Crank sequel for over seven years now. The 3D boom of the early 2000s should have alone made it worthwhile to have a Crank 3-D in production. At one point the story was going to have Chelios track down Osama Bin Laden as the plot for Crank 3, but as the filmmakers once put it, "that got fucked up."

So what is the status of Crank 3? Mark Neveldine provides a status update and also talks about the insane filmmaker duo's dream remake of The Warriors. Read about it, after the jump.

Screencrush talked to Mark Neveldine as he is promoting The Vatican Tapes, and the filmmaker talked a bit about the current plans for Crank 3:

We're definitely gonna do solo films. But we have an approved treatment for Crank 3 and we're super-excited about it. I know we've talked about it in the past, but we had lunch with Jason [Statham], we had lunch with Lakeshore. Everybody wants to do it, it's just now about all the stars aligning. Brian and I have a couple things that we'd really like to do as a team, and there are projects that really make sense that way. But also everybody thinks we're just one person. We're actually two guys with families and kids now, and we have things that we want to do solo and we're very supportive of each other doing that. But we want to do Crank 3.

Jason Statham has publicly stated (as of a few years ago) the he'd love to continue the thriller series if he can. We've heard that a third film has been in development and would go forward with the character played by Statham, or with someone new should he decide not to return.

"I love those two lads, [directors Mark] Neveldine and [Brian] Taylor," he said. "I haven't seen any scripts or anything for it, but they're a couple that you can't say no to." Asked whether that meant he'd be up for Crank 3, Statham had a quick and enthusiastic response: "Of course!"

The filmmakers have also mentioned that they'd love to get Idris Elba and The Rock in the next Crank film, but that was before both those actors got into franchise blockbusters.

As for how Neveldine and Taylor will make a third film will work considering the events of Crank 2, Neveldine has said:

That alone, we have 20 ways to tackle it. You know, with Crank, basically, you insert another quarter and you play the game again. It's kind of like what thrills me and Brian, it's whatever we feel like doing there in the moment, whatever we wanna do, we just do and make it happen. The important thing is what powers Chev. It was adrenaline that kept him alive in the first one, it was electricity in the second one, you know, it's all about what will keep him alive in the third one. It's just fun slinging those ideas around.

Another cool bit from Mark Neveldine's Screencrush interview is more talk about how the filmmaking duo would like to remake The Warriors. Here is what Neveldine said:

The Warriors would be a remake that Brian and I would love to tackle, it's just in rights hell at the moment. ... We have never been interested in remakes, and probably still aren't. But that's the one that we've always felt would just be awesome. We just feel like we're the perfect guys for that job; baseball bats, roller-skates, gangs, the heightened world. We know there's been fear at some studios like "We make this movie today and gangs are gonna go wild!" And it's like "Whatever." You do it in Crank style, people are just gonna laugh and have fun. ... We would set it, obviously, five minutes in the future, and we'd really love to build these flamboyant gangs and have fun with them, and have a heightened sense of action and bring all the things that we've learned and stolen from Rodriguez and Tarantino and other great directors and put it on the screen. [laughs]

But don't expect a Neveldine/Tayor remake of The Warriors anytime soon. Prior to his death, Tony Scott had planned a remake of the film, but now the rights are a bit tangled up. You can read the full interview at Screencrush.

The 1979 film directed by Walter Hill based on Sol Yurick's 1965 novel of the same name told the story of a New York City gang who "must return to their home turf after they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader." The Warriors grossed only $22 million when it was released but has since become a cult classic, spawning video games and a comic books.  Here is the trailer for the original 1979 film: