As producer Jeremy Thomas told us back in 2013, High-Rise has had a long journey to the screen. Ten years, in fact. The great Nic Roeg might have made the J.G. Ballard adaptation, but it’s fallen into the more-than-capable hands of Ben Wheatley. The new issue of Empire – on sale right now – debuts a new shot from the film below. Ladies, gentlemen and mild-manner janitors: we give you Luke Evans’ fiery filmmaker Wilder, no doubt up to minimal good.
It was Thomas’ son who alerted him to the Wheatley’s passion for Ballard’s dystopia. The upshot, skipping forward a few years, is a film that sees the Sightseers man overseeing a cast involving Evans, Tom Hiddleston, James Purefoy, Sienna Guillory and Jeremy Irons.
Set in 1975, **High-Rise **documents the shocking breakdown of class and social structures within a brand-new high-tech London apartment building as its residents, including the detached doctor Laing (Hiddleston), slowly give in to their more animalistic impulses, turning the building into a bacchanalian den of iniquity.
High-Rise hits UK cinemas in March 2016. For Empire’s full on-set report, head to your local newsagent (high or low-rise) and pick up the latest issue.