He’s done double-crosses, druggies, kidnappings, saints and Sunshine, but now Danny Boyle is planning to tackle a high-rise thriller with Ponte Tower.
Nabbing some Lottery funding from the Film Council’s Development Fund, he’s optioned the rights to German scribbler Norman Ohler’s novel, Ponte City.
The infamous structure was first built overlooking South Africa’s Johannesburg in 1975. Originally a prime location for the rich, white and powerful – with all the attendant problems of racism and intolerance - it fell into disrepair post-Apartheid and gained a reputation as a headquarters for various gangs. For a long time it was one of the most dangerous addresses in the world, eclipsing even Clacton-On-Sea during pension day.
Now Boyle is developing a thriller set during the more dangerous days of the tower with Backbeat writer Michael Thomas. There are no details of plot or casting yet, but then it is seriously early days for the movie.
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