One of England’s most exciting filmmakers is tackling his biggest project yet in thriller Free Fire, and today brings word that he’s recruiting some red-hot talents to round out the pic’s cast.
Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) has tapped Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Sam Riley (Maleficent) and Noah Taylor (Submarine) for supporting roles in the film. The trio join a stacked cast that already boasts Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley and Michael Smiley. Enzo Cilenti and Babou Ceesay also have supporting roles in the pic.
Free Fire centers on a woman (Larson) who sets up an arms deal between two Irishmen (Murphy and Smiley) and members of a gang (including Hammer and Copley). Meeting inside a deserted warehouse, the group initiates the deal, only for a furious firefight to break out when shots go off mid-handoff.
Reynor had a major role in the fourth Transformers blockbuster, playing the potentially guilty-of-statutory boyfriend of teenager Tessa (Nicola Peltz), but he’s got a more promising part in this fall’s Macbeth opposite Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. The actor demonstrated solid dramatic chops in What Richard Did and Glassland, the first of which led to his Transformers casting, so it’s exciting to see him join a taut thriller like this.
Riley, meanwhile, has given powerful performances in On the Road, Byzantium and Suite Francaise, but he’s on the cusp of a bigger breakout with an upcoming role in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Finally, Taylor has done well for himself on the small screen as well as the big one, with roles in Powers, Peaky Blinders and Game of Thrones as well as Edge of Tomorrow and (most notably) Submarine.
All three are worthy additions to the cast of what’s sure to be an exceptionally tight and stylish thriller. Wheatley has stunned with his past features, particularly the eerie A Field in England, and he’s reteaming with scribe Amy Jump here, so there’s reason to expect good things from Free Fire.
