He might be busy finishing off his current film, J.G. Ballard adaptation High-Rise, but Ben Wheatley is already hard at work preparing for his next thriller, Free Fire. Change is afoot for the casting of the movie, with Olivia Wilde needing to drop out thanks to scheduling clashes and Brie Larson taking her place. A fair swap, if ever there was one.
Free Fire, which recently secured Martin Scorsese’s services as executive producer, is planned as a hard-boiled crime film set in violence-ridden 1978 Boston. A secluded meeting between two gangs in a deserted warehouse suddenly explodes into a shoot-out and a fight for survival. Wheatley already has Luke Evans, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and regular collaborator Michael Smiley aboard to star, and intends to start the cameras rolling in a few months. With a script by Wheatley, this one is already being talked up as a new twist on the Reservoir Dogs type setup.
Larson was last seen in **The Gambler **and will next crop up as Amy Schumer’s sister in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, due here on August 28. She’s also worked on Room and Basmati Blues and is attached to biopic Brooklyn Bridge opposite Daniel Radcliffe.