Ben Wheatley Is Going Down The SILK ROAD For HBO

Here's a welcome, unexpected gift from the entertainment gods: HBO has hired Kill List and Sightseers director Ben Wheatley to write, executive produce and direct a new original series called Silk Road. Details of the show's plot are being closely guarded for now, but what we do know is that they're calling it a "thriller" and it's said to be "in the vein of The Prisoner." Since that's not very much to go on, let's speculate a bit!

Originally the Silk Road was a name given to a huge set of interlocking trade routes between Europe, Asia and Africa that were instrumental in the development of civilizations on all of the aforementioned continents. Students of history are welcome to leave comments guessing about the symbolic or actual significance of this association. However, more recently, Silk Road has become more well known as the name of an anonymous online black market, which, according to a 2011 Gawker report, "makes buying and selling illegal drugs as easy as buying used electronics--and seemingly as safe." Or you know, perhaps it has nothing to do with either of those things.  

For those keeping score, this announcement comes on the heels of news that Wheatley will be executive producing Jim Hosking's Gothic Horror film Whitaker, and that his new directorial effort A Field in England will hit UK theaters sometime this year. Oh, and also, he's developing a large-scale sci-fi project called Freak Shift and an ultra-violent claymation movie currently titled Megaevilmotherfuckers. Hopefully he is also sleeping occasionally. In any case, it's a good time to be a Wheatley fan, and as regular readers of the site have probably already guessed, this news has brought much rejoicing throughout the ScreenAnarchy staff.