Alicia Vikander is Going to Hunt Down Monsters in Ben Wheatley’s Wildly Ambitious ‘Freakshift’
Ben Wheatley has long talked about wanting to make a movie called “Freakshift,” in which cops head out at night to hunt down and kill monsters coming up from underground. It’s the movie you need a pretty hefty budget for, and it appears after rising through the ranks with well-received genre films like “Kill List,” “High-Rise” and “Free Fire,” Wheatley finally has enough stature to secure the budget and make this passion project a reality.
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Deadline reports that Alicia Vikander is in talks to lead the project, which is aiming to begin production this August. She’s currently shooting the “Tomb Raider” reboot, but that wouldn’t interfere with Wheatley’s film as production on the blockbuster is expected to wrap in early summer. Her casting would mark the latest Oscar winner to join a Wheatley movie. Brie Larson is front and center in “Free Fire,” which A24 opens in theaters April 21.
Back in 2012, Wheatley chatted with The Playlist (via The Film Stage) about his vision for the film. “It’s about a crew that’s built up this armored vehicle and they go out and have to respond to 911 calls about these big monsters that have come out of the ground,” he said. The monsters are intended to be “massive half-monkey mutant things” whose blood can cause infection.
In addition to “Tomb Raider,” Vikander currently has a bunch of projects in various stages of production. Both Lisa Langseth’s “Euphoria” and Wim Wenders’ “Submergence” are now in post-production, and rumors are already starting that the former could end up in Cannes this May. Vikander is also the star of “Tulip Fever,” which The Weinstein Company has moved around a bunch over the past year. It will open August 25.
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