First Image from 'Only God Forgives', Radius to Distribute

Even though I've heard nothing but great things about Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, I am yet to see the film.  I just ordered it on Blu-ray so I'll see what all the hype is about soon enough. 

With that said though, today we have our first look at the next team up of Ryan Gosling and Refn with Only God Forgives (doesn't that title just sound badass?).

The film - which just began filming earlier this year - takes places in Thailand where Gosling plays a character named Julian who killed a cop a decade ago and has been on the run ever since.  He manages a Thai boxing club, but it's really all a front for a drug operation his mother heads for a criminal organization (to be played by Kristin Scott Thomas).

I'm not going to get into all the gritty details - as I've listed the synopsis below - but the film's main predicament revolves around Julian's brother, who kills a prostitute, then is murdered himself by a retired cop, Chang (known as the Angel of Vengenance).  Julian is ordered by his mom to avenge his brother's death and of course, all hell break loose.

This thing certainly sounds like it has the potential to be great but one can't judge until an actual trailer is seen.  That might be a bit far off as Deadline reports the project - which was originally supposed to be picked up by Film District (which distributed Drive) - has been bought by The Weinstein Company's VOD/multi-platform gig, Radius.  Apparently, the film is extremely violent and Film District was probably uncomfortable taking on such a project.

Early word is the film may be ready by the fall film festival circuit but is more likely pegged for 2013 with Cannes being a strong possiblity for a debut.

We'll keep an eye on this project as it becomes available.

Sources: The Playlist, Wild Bunch