"I just think he’s so interesting and unique and I don’t know anyone who makes movies like he does," Elisabeth Moss, who stars in Ben Wheatley‘s upcoming "High Rise," recently told us about the director, and we totally agree. Prolific and constantly shifting gears, it’s always exciting to see what the filmmaker is cooking up, and this next bit of news is no different.
Luke Evans, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, and Michael Smiley will star in Wheatley’s "Free Fire." The film, which the director also wrote, is inspired by action movies he loves—"The Asphalt Jungle," "The Big Sleep," "The Killing," "The Big Combo, "The Driver," "Le Samourai," "The French Connection," "Goodfellas," "Casino," "Hard Boiled," "Reservoir Dogs," "The Getaway"—and is set in Boston 1978, following "Justine, a woman who has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Murphy, Smiley) and a gang led by Hammer and Evans who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues." Yes, please. Production begins next spring. [Screen Daily]
Get ready to light one up. Martin Scorsese has signed on to executive produce a documentary about The Grateful Dead, with Amir Bar-Lev ("The Tillman Story") directing. It sounds like it will be your standard rock band profile and "will include never-before-seen footage of performances and backstage stuff involving the band, as well as new interviews with surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir, as well as many other characters and pranksters from the Dead universe." [Deadline]
Elizabeth Banks seems to be enjoying working behind the camera. She’s currently filming "Pitch Perfect 2," and now she’ll head to ABC to produce and direct "The Greater Good," a show akin to a "comedic ‘X-Files,’ a relationship/workplace comedy set in the world of conspiracy theories." You know what? That premise is actually promising, so it’s one we’ll keep an eye on. [Deadline]
