'Drive' Author Says Novel Sequel 'Driven' Could Become A Film

We were pretty big fans of Nicolas Winding Refn's film Drive around these parts, but is there room for another chapter in the story of Ryan Gosling's driver? James Sallis, who wrote the novel upon which Drive was based, has written a sequel called Driven. And now he says a film is in development based on the new book.

In an interview with The Independent, via The Playlist, Sallis says "they love the book," with 'they' being a totally undefined entity. Is that Refn and his producers? The people at FilmDistrict, which released Drive? Or is he talking about agencies, or something else entirely? The article says the book "is in the movie pipeline," but we need to know more.

The book finds Diver living in Phoenix as Paul West, seven years after the events of Drive. He's engaged, but his potential domestic happiness is destroyed when his fiance is killed in an attack. Sallis says,

He is trying to suppress the violence – but the sequel shows the process of him accepting that this is who he is. He tries to become a normal person and re-invents himself. After his fiancée is killed, the violence is unleashed again.

Drive wasn't a fast-developing film, but with the Refn movie already established as a pedigree, theoretically a film based on Driven could get into motion a lot faster. (And, in doing so, dispel any ambiguity related to the end of Drive.) But if it stars someone other than Gosling, it might not be so easy, and at the moment we don't have any indication that he plans to be part of a sequel. (The cover designer for the UK edition, seen above, sure likes the Gosling portrayal, though.)