Dimension Films is revving up production on “Hell Ride,” an homage to classic biker films.
Pic will be written and directed by Larry Bishop, once a fixture of such biker films as “The Savage Seven,” “Chrome and Hot Leather” and “Angel Unchained.” Movie is being godfathered by “Grindhouse” co-director Quentin Tarantino, who will receive a presenting credit and was largely responsible for making the film happen.
Bishop, who’s now 59, will star as the leader of the Victors, a biker gang he rallies to avenge the death of a gang member. Michael Steinberg and Shana Stein will produce with Bishop.
For Bishop, the son of Rat Pack comic Joey Bishop, the film marks the latest example of Tarantino rewarding an actor who long ago made an impression on him. Evolution began when Tarantino invited Bishop to his house to watch a print of “The Savage Seven,” one of his early biker works.
“I got there, he’s got a 60-seat theater, and a lobby, and there are posters of my movies all over the place,” said Bishop, who’d long since transformed into the writer of gangster films “Mad Dog Time” and “Underworld.”
“I’d done about 15 AIP genre movies, rebel films, and he had them all behind the glass,” Bishop said. “Then before the movie starts, up come about six of my trailers from the ’60s, most of which I’d never even seen.” Tarantino saved the best for last.
“The movie ends and he says, let’s make the greatest motorcycle movie ever. And so I spent five years writing it,” Bishop said. “When I got on the phone with Bob Weinstein, I was ready with 10 folders with budget breakdowns, all kinds of stuff. The first thing Bob says is, he gives me a budget and says, if you can make it for that budget, I am greenlighting this, right now.”
Now Bishop is back in the driver’s seat.
