Ryan Gosling gets ugly for ‘Only God Forgives’

God Only Forgives
God Only Forgives

We'd hate to see the other guy.

One of Hollywood's most handsome leading men isn't afraid to get his face smashed in "Fight Club"-style for the stunning poster of his upcoming thriller, "Only God Forgives."

The film is one of the most anticipated of the many projects that the in-demand star has in the works, as it reunites Gosling with Nicolas Winding Refn, the director that guided him to cult hero status with last year's stylish neo-noir sleeper hit, "Drive." Really, that film had audiences thinking they were transported back to the '80s and wandering around a television show produced by Michael Mann ... but, you know, way cooler.

"Drive" certainly indulged in the bit of the ol' ultraviolence, but if the poster is any indication, "Only God Forgives" will take all of the batterings, shootings and fisticuffs to even more vivid (and gruesome) levels. The Bangkok-set thriller follows an English criminal kingpin (Gosling) who runs a Thai boxing club as a front for his family's drug smuggling operation. He is eventually forced by his ruthless Lady MacBeth-like mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) to track down and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death, who ends up being a retired police officer who calls himself The Angel of Vengeance.

[Related: Indie Roundup: 'Drive' Director Nicolas Winding Refn Talks About Being a 'Fetish Filmmaker']

Fans of the electronica-heavy "Drive" soundtrack will be happy to know that the project reunites Refn with composer Cliff Martinez. Actually, in an interview with Empire Magazine (reported by MTV Movies), Refn describes "Only God Forgives" as being in the same vein as "Drive" across the board, saying it's "based on real emotions, but set in a heightened reality. It's a fairy tale."

Perhaps what's most exciting of all is that Gosling describes Refn's screenplay for "Only God Forgives" as "the strangest thing I've ever read." As Gosling has never been one to shy away from really unique and sometimes bizarre projects (such as "Stay," "Lars and the Real Girl," "Blue Valentine" and, of course, "Drive"), that's definitely saying something.

"Only God Forgives" is currently in post-production and is planned for a 2013 release (or guess is it will follow the path of "Drive" and be sometime in the fall).

See the theatrical trailer for 'Drive':

'Drive' Theatrical Trailer