Could Sylvester Stallone Bring Walter Hill Back?

This year I got to meet Walter Hill, and it was a great experience. One of the finest directors of his generation, Hill never quite got the respect he deserved, and in his later years fell into doing a lot of TV. Which isn’t bad - Hill was one of the driving forces of the beloved Deadwood, but to watch a Hill movie like The Driver on the big screen and then realize he’s now doing work on the small screen… man, that’s just too bad.

But it looks like Hill could be returning to theaters for the first time since 2002. Sylvester Stallone has been meeting with the director about helming his next film, Headshot. Wayne Kramer was on board, but the director bailed this week (probably not the best sign, but what are you going to do?). Here’s what Stallone says to Deadline about Kramer leaving:

“Initially, Mr. Kramer was hired to direct a dark comedy; however his vision was much darker and exceptionally more violent than how the project was originally conceived. It was decided that it would be better for everyone to move on and consequently Mr. Kramer was dismissed by producers earlier this week. There were no volatile clashes, it was simply a professional parting of the ways.”

I like Wayne Kramer, but I’m really rooting for Hill here.