SF Indie fave Ben Wheatley at work on JG Ballard’s “HIGH RISE”

Exciting news for director Ben Wheatley, whose films DOWN TERRACE, KILL LIST and SIGHTSEERS have all played at IndieFests past – and whose A FIELD IN ENGLAND plays this year’s festival this weekend on February 8th and 9th. (tickets HERE)

The news: A screen adaptation of British new wave science fiction writer JG Ballard’s apocalyptic 1975 book High Rise is long overdue, and over the years has had a number of directors and screenwriters attached to it, including Nicolas Roeg, Vincenzo Natali, Richard Stanley and more. While the book has been highly influential to a number of cinematic and literary heavyweights, its closest screen counterpart remains David Cronenberg’s film SHIVERS, made the same year (although Cronenberg – later to direct Ballard’s Crash – had no knowledge of Ballard’s work at the time). Last fall it was announced that Ben Wheatley – who was also tapped to direct the first two episodes of the Peter Capaldi incarnation of TV’s DR WHO – would be tackling the elusive tome with his wife and writing partner Amy Jump. And just today it’s been revealed that Tom Hiddleston (ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE) has been cast in the film, which will start shooting in June. You can read all about it in EMPIRE Magazine here:

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=40050 

And check out the new poster for Wheatley’s A FIELD IN ENGLAND, courtesy of artist Jay Shaw and domestic distributor Drafthouse Films: