/Ben Wheatley‘s next feature will be Free Fire, a crime film set in Boston in 1978, which includes Michael Smiley in its ensemble cast.

Following closely on the heels of 2016’s High Rise, Ben’s critically and commercially-acclaimed film adaptation of J.G. Bollard’s novel, Free Fire charts the fallout from a gun-running hook-up  which takes place in a deserted warehouse. At its centre are two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy and Smiley) connecting with a couple of arms traffickers, Ord (Armie Hammer) and Vernon (Sharlto Copley).

Free Fall will be Ben’s first film to be set in the US, and it’s exec-produced by none other than Martin Scorsese. It also features Brie Larson, Sam Riley and Enzo Cilenti, and is due for release in 2017.

Ben told Variety magazine: “The idea for Free Fire came from my love of hard-boiled crime movies: The Asphalt Jungle, The Big Sleep, The Killing and The Big Combo through The Driver, Le Samourai and The French Connection, to the modern cycle of GoodFellas, Casino, Hard Boiled and Reservoir Dogs.”

“It will take you and stick you in the middle of the action,” he elaborated. “I want the film to have the stylish, no-nonsense feel that you get in [Sam] Peckinpah’s The Getaway. It’s a modern ‘70s movie. Muscular, tough and spare.”

If you can’t wait until 2017 for your next dose of Wheatley, don’t forget that his most recent film, High Rise, is now available on DVD, blu-ray and on demand. Thought-provoking, OTT and gorgeous to look at, it also includes TVO faces Dan Skinner, Tony Way and Reece Shearsmith, all on gloriously bleak form:

 

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