While director Ben Wheatley has delivered some dark and disturbing films in his career, it looks like he’s moving in a more lighthearted (albeit still bloody) direction with his recent fare. His new film is the delightful Free Fire, a 90-minute, ridiculous shootout starring Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Jack Reynor and Sam Riley. Click here for my review from last year’s TIFF.

During the press day for Free Fire, Steve Weintraub spoke with Wheatley about his next film, Freakshift. As we previously reported, the film will star Alicia Vikander and Armie Hammer, and it’s billed as ““an all-guns-blazing action thriller about a band of misfits who hunt down and kill nocturnal underground monsters.” So certainly more in line with Free Fire than something like Wheatley’s Down Terrace or Kill List.

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Image via Magnet Releasing

Talking about the film, Wheatley teased a few more details about what fans can expect and when they start shooting:

“It’s monsters, shotguns, trucks, fighting at night, and it’s in the future, things coming out like crabs. Stuff with claws. That’s the elevator pitch. And August is when we shoot it.”

When Steve asked if the film is a bloodbath, Wheatley compared the level of violence to Free Fire (a film that certainly has bloodshed, but is rarely over the top in its depiction of gore):

"It will be dynamic and exciting the same way that Free Fire is. But it won’t be sadistic. But it will be fun. It’s a kind of a 50s B-Movie done through the prism of Hill Street Blues and Doom."

Just inject it into my veins right now.

Watch the video above and stay tuned for the full interview with Wheatley and Hammer. Free Fire opens April 21st.  If you haven't seen the trailer for it yet, check it out below:

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Image via A24
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Image via A24

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