The film adaptation of Drive was announced in early 2008. At the time, Neil Marshall was listed as the film producer and Hugh Jackman was the main star. But by February 2010, everything had changed dramatically. Marshall was replaced by Mark Platt, who in turn contacted actors from his own talent pool.

Ryan Gosling was his favorite. Interestingly, before that, Gosling had already refused to act in several action movies, as he disliked films that focus more on tricks than on the characters. But the Drive plot piqued his interest, so he accepted the role from Platt two days after receiving the proposal.