Twisted Metal helmer hired, may ruin film

It was less than a week ago that we heard about the new Twisted Metal film, which is currently in development over at Sony Pictures. Now, we’ve got news that a director has already been found: Brian Taylor will be writing the screenplay and helming the feature.

This is a bit worrying for the final product simply because Taylor is fresh off of his co-directorship of the recently released Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which was terrible.

In short: it was a poorly made grindhouse schlock-fest, and I know that Taylor is surely not entirely responsible for all the terrible things that went into that film, the timing is what’s worrisome.

Hiring a director immediately off of another picture like that, right after it hits the theaters, is usually only done when the film is a success. Indeed, many a directing deal has been held in limbo while a studio waits to see how their previous film performs.

Spirit of Vengeance, however, is a terrible movie, and is not doing well at the box office, so why pull in one of the co-directors of that film just as his incompetence is clearly on display?

Hopefully it isn’t because they want Twisted Metal to be a schlocky grindhouse film. Now that I think about it, though, the plot of Twisted Metal really lends itself to the classic grindhouse formula: There are lots of car crashes, strangely modified vehicles, frequent dismemberment, and unexplained fantasy elements which are mostly malevolent. Personally, I’m not looking forward to this one anymore, but perhaps it will surprise me as it develops further.

Here’s the trailer for the latest iteration of the video game, in case you missed last week:

Twisted Metal is still in development, but the studio is aiming for a 2014 release date.