Wheatley Rebuilds Ballard's "High Rise"

Ben Wheatley ("Kill List," "Sightseers") is set to direct a film adaptation of author J. G. Ballard's 1975 satirical novel "High Rise".

Set in a luxury ultra-modern high-rise building, the story follows a group of affluent tenants who revert to barbarism. Cocktail parties degenerate into attacks on 'enemy' floors and once-luxurious amenities become an arena for primal and violent mayhem.

Nicolas Roeg almost turned the tale into a film in the '70s. Then, in 2010, Vincenzo Natali was going to direct a pic using a script by Richard Stanley.  The rights lapsed, however, and now a new writing and directing team has come aboard and it seems like they're actually going to get this adaptation across the finish line.

Wheatley's regular writing partner Amy Jump will pen what is being labelled a "faithful" adaptation which aims to shoot next year in the UK.

Wheatley told Empire: "The idea is to be true to Ballard. It is such a rich and interesting time that it seemed a shame to set it anywhere other than England... The scope of the film is exciting. It will be challenging, like Crash, but it’s not as dark as Kill List. The book is pretty out there, though"

Ballard also wrote the book that was turned into Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" and the novel that became David Cronenberg's "Crash".