To say that Ben Wheatley likes to have options would be an understatement. The prolific director has already dropped one movie this year (the trippy “A Field In England,” with Drafthouse Films handling the U.S. release) along with his first music video, and currently sitting in pile on desk of potential/developing projects are: “Freakshift,” “I, Macrobane,” “Two For Hell” and the animated “Mega Evil Motherfuckers.” And while Wheatley has thus far mostly pursued movies that stem from his own brain, he’s making an exception for this next one.
The director has signed on helm an adaptation of J.G. Ballard‘s “High Rise,” which still fits right into his freaky wheelhouse. A movie version of the novel has been in the works for decades, with Nicolas Roeg, David Cronenberg and most recently Vincenzo Natali all trying to mount the project. But it looks like Wheatley will be the one to get this story of literal class warfare set solely in a luxury high-rise (kinda like a vertical “Snowpiercer“?) off the ground. Here’s the Amazon synopsis:
When a class war erupts inside a luxurious apartment block, modern elevators become violent battlegrounds and cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on “enemy” floors. In this visionary tale, human society slips into violent reverse as once-peaceful residents, driven by primal urges, re-create a world ruled by the laws of the jungle.
Wheatley’s longtime collaborator Amy Jump (“Kill List,” “Sightseers,” “A Field In England”) will pen the script, has penned the script, with production slated to begin next year in the U.K. So still plenty of time for the fast-moving Wheatley to go off and make another movie on the sly. And indeed, his monster flick “Freakshift” will also go in front of cameras next year. [Screen Daily]
