Ever since we heard about Christian Bale adapting Concrete Island we've been jonesing for more JG Ballard material. Thankfully, the teaser poster for Vincenzo Natali's High Rise adaptation has finally arrived. Welcome to paradise, and the eventual utopian revolution of death.
We haven't heard much until now about director Vincenzo Natali, who has been busy at work on the GDT-produced genetic engineering horror film Splice. This new project promises to be equally as exciting as mutant animal-people hybrids. The novel revolves around a utopian habitat for people built inside a skyscraper. As all things utopic, everything goes to hell and the citizens break down into violent tribes, turning on one another. From the look of the poster (no it won't go any bigger, sorry!) the building exists on an isolated island. Let the blood smear upon the sand.
Here is the official synopsis:
In the midst of a vast ocean stands the Elysium Tower – a glistening vertical city – a sanctuary for challenging times. Powered by sun and earth, designed by the greatest architectural visionary of the new millennium, Elysium is a self contained world. A world of commerce, cuisine and entertainment, featuring restaurants, swimming pools, libraries, cinemas, even a research hospital. It is not just the tallest and most technologically advanced work of modern architecture, but one that embodies the world's highest aspirations. Dr. Robert Laing, a new arrival, settles in and adjusts to this hermetic life. But before long he becomes aware of something unsettling in the building. In an escalating atmosphere of unrest the residents break into tribal factions. Laing watches in horror as the myth of a utopian society is shattered.
Imdb has the project slated for release sometime in 2011.
[Capri via Quiet Earth]