by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

The Death Wish remake has hit some snags in finding a director willing to take it on. We’ve seen Joe Carnahan, Gerardo Naranjo and Navot Paushado & Aharon Keshales all sign on only to drop out due to the ever ambiguous “creative differences” excuse. But Paramount is hoping the fourth time’s the charm as Eli Roth has now signed on to helm the revenge-fueled flick.

Deadline reported this and also had the bit that Roth taking on this film is an attempt on the filmmaker’s behalf to spread his wings and step away from the “torture porn” style of gore and horror he’s best known for.

While it would be easy for Roth to make Hostel 4 or Green Inferno 2, I like the idea of him trying something different. Look what it did for James Wan recently. Furious 7 may be Wan’s best film to date and he did that after securing a top spot as one of Hollywood’s go-to guys for horror and splatter.

This is still in the early stages though. This project has been on the burner since 2012 and backstage word is that star Bruce Willis is a bit…prickly to work with if things don’t go his way (and one of the Evening With Kevin Smith DVDs has a particularly funny yet eye-opening story from the set of Live Free Or Die Hard that shows how Willis isn’t afraid to throw his weight around).

I think Roth could bring a fun edge to a film like this. The revenge killings could be inventive and a way of bringing fans familiar with the director’s work into theaters. And if he wows us with a storytelling style that defies our usual expectations of him, then that’s all the better.