'My boundaries had been violated, my property trespassed upon.
Yet my first response to the discovery of this mindless violence was swift and stark,' Garfield later wrote. “I knew the vandal had done us no real harm. IT WAS INSPIRED BY A COUPLE OF REAL-LIFE CRIMES (THAT WERE MUCH LESS VIOLENT).Īuthor Brian Garfield was inspired to write Death Wish after he grew very angry when, in separate incidents, his wife's purse was stolen and his car was vandalized. In the meantime, here are 15 things you might not know about Death Wish. While Charles Bronson will forever be linked to the lead role (who changed from Paul Benjamin to Paul Kersey for the film, and became an architect), Bruce Willis is getting ready to give the iconic character a go with Eli Roth's update of the film, which hits theaters this weekend. The first film, 1974's Death Wish, was so controversial that Garfield openly wished it would not air on television after it allegedly inspired some real-life copycat killings. When Brian Garfield wrote the 1972 novel Death Wish, about a New York City accountant-turned-vigilante named Paul Benjamin, he had no idea that it would spawn one of Hollywood's longest-running film series, with five movies released over 20 years.