Toss ‘Ben Wheatley’ and ‘monster movie’ into the same sentence and you’ll no doubt turn heads and raise eyebrows across the four corners of the Internet. And yet, that’s exactly what the British auteur plans to do for his next creative venture, Freakshift, a no-holds-barred action thriller revolving around a mismatched group of bounty hunters assigned to kill underground monsters that reside deep underground.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, Deadline brings word today that the Oscar-winning Alicia Vikander is in negotiations to topline the supernatural drama as one of those aforementioned hunters. It’s early, early days, but considering that Vikander remains one of the most in-demand actresses in the business, drafting in the Swede to headline Freakshift would be a major coup for Ben Wheatley.
The filmmaker, whose Free Fire is prepped and ready to light up theaters on April 21st, has been mulling over Freakshift since he was knee-deep in High-Rise late last year. Concept art for the futuristic pic suggests Wheatley is eyeing four principal protagonists for the all-guns-blazing actioner, which means Vikander’s potential casting could be the first of many dominos to fall over the next two-to-three months. Plus, as Deadline notes, the fact that Tomb Raider is set to wrap before the summer certainly opens up a space on the actress’ busy, busy schedule. Perhaps the stars will align after all? We’ll keep you posted as more information comes to light.
Beyond Freakshift, Alica Vikander has teed up roles in Wim Wenders’ romantic thriller Submergence and Euphoria, the sisterly drama that places her opposite Penny Dreadful star Eva Green. Tomb Raider, on the other hand, heralds a new origin tale for the iconic Lara Croft on March 16th, 2018.
