The period drama novel, “Empire Rising” written by Thomas Kelly is currently being eyed by Guy Ritchie for a big screen adaptation. The Hollywood Reporter has said that Warner Bros. recently acquired the film rights and hired Kelly to provide the screenplay himself. The novel was first published in 2006 by Picador. 

The novel is set in 1930 as ground for the Empire State Building has been broken.

One of the thousands of men who will come to work high above the city is Michael Briody, an Irish immigrant torn between his desire to make a new life in America and his pledge to gather money and arms for the Irish republican cause. When he meets Grace Masterson, an alluring artist who is depicting the great skyscraper’s rise from her houseboat on the East River, Briody’s life suddenly turns exhilarating — and dangerous – -for Grace is also a paramour of Johnny Farrell, Mayor Jimmy Walker’s liaison with Tammany Hall and the underworld.

Ritchie has not been confirmed as director though he will serve as producer for the film project alongside Lionel Wigram. There is no word on when production for the project will begin or any other talent attached. Ritchie recently began work on his latest project, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which will begin filming this September.