Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that they have acquired U.S. rights to HIGH-RISE, the highly-anticipated new film from acclaimed British genre-bending director Ben Wheatley (A FIELD IN ENGLAND, SIGHTSEERS, KILL LIST). The film, starring Tom Hiddleston (THE AVENGERS, CRIMSON PEAK), Jeremy Irons (BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE), Sienna Miller (AMERICAN SNIPER), Luke Evans (DRACULA UNTOLD) and Elizabeth Moss (MAD MEN), chronicles the savage breakdown of social order inside a giant residential apartment block. Written by Amy Jump based on J.G. Ballard’s seminal 1975 sci-fi novel, HIGH-RISE world-premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
HIGH-RISE stars Hiddleston as Dr. Robert Laing, the newest resident of a luxurious apartment in a high-tech concrete skyscraper whose lofty location places him amongst the upper class. Laing quickly settles into high society life and meets the building’s eccentric tenants: Charlotte (Miller), his upstairs neighbor and bohemian single mother; Wilder (Evans), a charismatic documentarian who lives with his pregnant wife Helen (Moss); and Mr. Royal (Irons), the enigmatic architect who designed the building. Life seems like paradise to the solitude-seeking Laing. But as power outages become more frequent and building flaws emerge, particularly on the lower floors, the regimented social strata begins to crumble and the building becomes a battlefield in a literal class war.
“Ben Wheatley is one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today, constantly breaking down genre walls, and HIGH-RISE is no different,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Audiences will find this highly-entertaining and inventive thriller as exciting and relevant today as Ballard’s book was when it was released nearly forty years ago.”
“I’m extremely happy that Magnet is going to be releasing HIGH-RISE, a long-cherished RPC project, as we had such satisfying results with 13 ASSASSINS,” said producer Jeremy Thomas.
Magnet, who distributed Wheatley’s first film, DOWN TERRACE, is planning a 2016 theatrical release.
“I’m very excited about working with Magnet again,” said Wheatley. “They have the brains and the balls to handle the crazy beast that is HIGH-RISE.”
HIGH-RISE is a Jeremy Thomas, HanWay Films, Film4, BFI presentation, in association with Northern Ireland Screen, Ingenious Media, Scope Invest Producteurs, S Films, of a Recorded Picture Co. production. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, Executive Producers are Peter Watson, Thorsten Schumacher, Lizzie Francke, Sam Lavender, Anna Higgs, Gabriella Martinelli, Christopher Simon and Genevieve Lemal. Nick O’Hagan and Alainee Kent are co-producers.
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Magnolia VP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden, with HanWay Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
