Fifth Season Partners with Patrick Hughes to Bring Gabriel Bergmoser’s Thriller ‘High Rise’ to Life
EXCLUSIVE: Fifth Season has secured the rights to High Rise, a thriller novel set for release in 2025 by bestselling Australian author Gabriel Bergmoser. The company has enlisted Bergmoser to adapt the novel into a feature film, with Patrick Hughes set to direct. This collaboration reunites Hughes with and Huge Film, following their successful partnership on the recent Netflix title War Machine.
Touted as Die Hard meets The Raid, High Rise centers on a rogue ex-cop who searches for his estranged daughter in a rundown high-rise, only to discover that she is unwilling to be saved by him. When the city’s criminal underbelly descends upon the building with a bounty on his head, the pair must navigate their way through fifteen floors of danger, relying solely on one another for survival.
Hidden Pictures initially presented the book to Huge Film, which then brought it to Fifth Season. Producers for the film include Todd Lieberman (The Housemaid, upcoming Voltron) and Alex Young from Hidden Pictures, alongside Hughes and Greg McLean from Huge Film.
Alex Young of Hidden Pictures expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating, “Todd and I are thrilled to be working with Patrick & Greg again after having just had such a phenomenal experience making War Machine together. We love our time making movies in Australia and are excited to support Melbourne native Gabe Bergmoser in bringing his action-packed book to the big screen.”
Director Patrick Hughes added, “We’re thrilled to be partnering again with Hidden Pictures, it’s a relationship we really value. High Rise also gives us a chance to continue championing Australian talent, which sits at the heart of Huge Film.”
Bergmoser, an award-winning author and playwright from Melbourne, gained recognition with the 2016 YA novel Boone Shepard and became a bestseller with The Hunted in 2020, which is currently being adapted into a film directed by John Michael McDonagh. Since then, he has published several notable thrillers, including The Inheritance (2021) and The Hitchhiker (2024), as well as upcoming works like the Audible Original Backstory (2025) and the YA novel The True Colour of a Little White Lie (2021).
Bergmoser’s 2023 thriller novel The Caretaker has also been acquired for adaptation by Goalpost Pictures (The Invisible Man, The Sapphires). This adaptation will be crafted by writers Alexei Mizin and Ryan Van Dijk (Watching You).
War Machine, which starred Alan Ritchson and marked the inaugural production from Huge Films, achieved remarkable success on Netflix. The film garnered 39.3 million views within its first three days and maintained the No. 1 position globally for two weeks, reaching the Top 10 in 93 countries. It has now been viewed by over 100 million households. Hughes is currently developing an untitled film for Amazon MGM Studios, reuniting with Ritchson, who plays Navy SEAL Mike Thornton.
Hidden Pictures, coming off the success of The Housemaid, is also working on an untitled Vietnam project with Hughes for Amazon MGM, alongside the highly anticipated adaptation of Voltron.
Meanwhile, Fifth Season continues to expand its offerings, with upcoming projects including Netflix’s East of Eden and Apple TV’s The Savant, a crime thriller that has seen its release postponed following a recent event involving a key figure, as confirmed by actress Jessica Chastain.
