20 Things You Didn't Know About Drive
14. The Budget Was Slashed From $60 Million To Just $15 Million
Back when Drive was originally envisioned as a more frothy, large-scale movie starring Hugh Jackman at Universal, it was also supposed to have a much bigger budget.
Drive was initially budgeted at a stonking $60 million - for reference, the first Deadpool cost just shy of that price tag.
But when the Jackman version of the movie fell apart and Refn's more singular vision came together at FilmDistrict, they gave him a budget of just $15 million - a mere 25% of the first version.
As a result, screenwriter Amini, who had been part of the project all along, had to undertake extensive rewrites to make the movie fit a shrunken budget.