Brooke Bunny
Guy Ritchie is in talks to direct the feature film adaptation of Thomas Kelly’s novel “Empire Rising” at Warner Bros, says The Hollywood Reporter.
The book tells of the construction of the Empire State Building in New York City.
Kelly, also a writer and producer on BBC’s “Copper”, will pen the screenplay. Ritchie and his partner Lionel Wigram will produce.
The novel, published in 2006, told of a epic love triangle set in 1930 just as construction on the iconic building begins and the Depression is beginning to take hold. On one side is the Irish immigrant Michael Briody, a steelworker on the building who is also running guns for the IRA. On the other is Johnny Farell, a bagman for Mayor Jimmy Walker and adapt at running the corrupt political system. And in the middle is a beautiful artist named Grace Masterson. Historical figures also make appearances.
“Empire Rising” is yet another collaboration between Ritchie and Warner Bros, who he has worked with on most of his recent pictures, including the “Sherlock Holmes” films and the upcoming “Man from U.N.C.L.E”.
