After the overwhelming success of the Harry Potter film series, producer David Heyman has been searching for the next great adaptation.  He's already got a Paddington Bear project, a feature version of the short sci-fi film True Skin, Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity and adaptations of The Light between Oceans and The Odyssey.  Heyman's latest acquisition for Warner Bros. is the 1962 post-apocalyptic thriller The Drowned World, from author J.G. Ballard.  The story takes place in the year 2145 after intense solar radiation has melted the ice caps and turned Europe into a lush tropical jungle.  The protagonist lives near the top floor of a London highrise that sits just above the water line and must deal with primordial creatures and anarchistic sects that prowl the ruined city.  Sounds like fun! Hit the jump for more.

Deadline reports that Heyman will produce The Drowned World along with Jeffrey Clifford; WB's Jon Berg will oversee.  The producers are eager to secure a writer.

Here's the synopsis for Ballard's The Drowned World (via Amazon):

When London is lost beneath the rising tides, unconscious desires rush to the surface in this apocalyptic tale from the author of Crash and Cocaine Nights. Set in the near future, the ice caps have melted and the planet basks in an unendurable heat. London is a primordial swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and there are unconfirmed sightings of primeval reptiles swimming through the newly-formed lagoons. Some flee the capital; others embark on harebrained schemes to drain the submerged streets in search of treasure. But Dr Robert Kerans has come to accept this submarine city and finds himself strangely resistant to the idea of saving it...