“Possessor” director Brandon Cronenberg will adapt “Crash” author J.G. Ballard’s 2000 thriller novel “Super-Cannes” as a limited TV series.
“Super-Cannes” is set in an ultra-modern high tech business park in the hills above the French Riviera city, famed for its film festival, where a global elite has gathered to form a closed, uber-capitalist and high-tech community.
The rights for the novel, “High-Rise” writer Ballard’s 25th, were optioned by television drama production company Ringside Studios and Andy Starke from Anti-Worlds Film and Television.
Ringside Studios was established in 2020 as a joint venture between producer Gub Neal (“The Fall”) and Newen, the French production and distribution group owned by TF1.
Neal said: “We’re delighted to be involved with Brandon and Andy in adapting such an iconic piece of work. The source material is so rich and the characters so vivid that we are confident it will be an appealing project for both talent and buyers.”
“‘Super-Cannes’ was an incredibly prescient novel that is more relevant now than ever — a heady blend of cutting politics and deviant psychology, built around a deeply satisfying detective story,” Cronenberg said. “I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to adapt it, and to be working on the series with Anti-Worlds and Ringside.”
“’Super-Cannes’ is one of my favorite novels — a thrilling story that holds a dark mirror to contemporary society and morality – in the hands of Brandon Cronenberg it will be an incredible piece of television,” Starke added.
Cronenberg and Starke previously worked together on Sundance 2020 selection “Possessor.” Cronenberg is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.
Ballard died in 2009 and his estate is represented by U.K. agency Casarotto Ramsay and Associates, who also represent Cronenberg.