Director Ben Wheatley

Having worked in the genres of horror (Kill List), thriller (A Field in England), and comedy (Sightseers), director Ben Wheatley is now ready to tackle the action genre with Free Fire. According to Screendaily, the film is set to begin production in spring 2015. In addition to being the English director’s first action film, Free Fire will also be Wheatley’s first film set in the United States.

The cast includes Olivia Wilde, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Luke Evans, and Michael Smiley. Simley may be the least immediately recognizable name in the main cast, but he has appeared in several of Wheatley’s films, including Kill List, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor award at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards.

Here’s the plot (from Screendaily):

The story is set in Boston in 1978. Wilde plays Justine, a woman who has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Murphy, Smiley) and a gang led by Hammer and Evans who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues.

Free Fire isn’t the only upcoming Wheatley film. High Rise – based on a novel by J. G. Ballard (Empire of the Sun) is set for release next year, and stars Tom Hiddleston (the Thor series) and Jeremy Irons (the upcoming Batman v. Superman).