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High-Rise Ben Wheatley has started filming - SciFiNow

High-Rise Ben Wheatley has started filming

Ben Wheatley promises his film of JG Ballard’s High-Rise will be stylish and dark

High RiseSightseers and A Field In England director is one of Britain’s busiest filmmakers, and after working on Doctor Who he’s already filming J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise.

On 2 February, Wheatley tweeted the above teaser image from the set, simply stating “Highrise”.

Speaking to io9, Wheatley revealed that he’s “gone back to the dark shit” for the grim, gruesome story of high-rise block inhabitants who turn on each other, becoming increasingly savage and animalistic. “We’re filming. That’s happening. That should be announced this week, about stuff that’s going on with it.”

Although Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) attempted to make a film version a few years ago, Wheatley has stated that his new version comes from a script by his partner and collaborator Amy Jump. “We’ve gone back and Amy [Jump]’s written a script that’s very close to the book. It’s set in 1975.”

He also promises that the film will have a uniquely 70s look. “It’s going to look like the 70s. It’s going to be very styled in that way. We’re looking at the Ridley Scott adverts of that period. It’s going to be modern in a way that the 70s looked. In a way that, ‘I don’t know what the future looks like anymore,’ which is quite funny. We’re already in Buck Rogers land now. Aren’t we? We’ve all got phones, it’s not that exciting. But back then they had a real idea of what the future was going to be like, and it was much more stylish.”

You can buy High-Rise in paperback for £5.59 at Amazon.co.uk.