Kathryn Bigelow to Direct Netflix Film Adaptation of David Koepp Novel - Collider

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It has felt like Netflix has been rounding up all the most talented directors in the last few years to make exclusive content for their streaming service. Great filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Rian Johnson, Bong Joon-ho, and Alfonso Cuarón have all made films for the streamer in the past. Now Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is the next talent to join the Netflix family.

Netflix announced on Thursday that Bigelow's next film will be produced by the streamer. The film is based on David Koepp’s upcoming novel of the same name, Aurora. Koepp will be adapting the novel himself for Bigelow and the story follows, “characters who are coping with the collapse of the social order, set against a catastrophic worldwide power crisis.” Now that is a very vague description, but the novel's official summary reveals a bit more stating:

In Aurora, Illinois, Aubrey Wheeler is just trying to get by after her semi-criminal ex-husband split, leaving behind his unruly teenage son. Then the lights go out—not just in Aurora but across the globe. A solar storm has knocked out power almost everywhere. Suddenly, all problems are local, very local, and Aubrey must assume the mantle of fierce protector of her suburban neighborhood. Across the country lives Aubrey’s estranged brother, Thom. A fantastically wealthy, neurotically over-prepared Silicon Valley CEO, he plans to ride out the crisis in a gilded desert bunker he built for maximum comfort and security. But the complicated history between the siblings is far from over, and what feels like the end of the world is just the beginning of several long-overdue reckonings—which not everyone will survive . . .

zero-dark-thirty — Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

Now obviously, the plot of the film could look a lot different when it does eventually come out. However, with Bigelow behind the camera, film fans should have all the confidence in the world that this is going to be nothing short of an amazing product. Bigelow started off early in her career-making genre classics like the iconic action thriller Point Break before she started making Oscar Caliber films. She made history in 2010 when she became the first woman to win Best Director for her war movie The Hurt Locker, which also won Best Picture. Her next project, which was a war film as well, Zero Dark Thirty also got nominated for Best Picture in 2013 and Jessica Chastain was nominated for Best Actress for her leading role in the film. Bigelow's last film was the 2017 crime thriller Detroit which starred John Boyega and Anthony Mackie. While not nominated for any Oscars, many film fans thought that Detroit was snubbed in the major categories.

Bigelow just has an amazing track record. Even though the book has not come out yet, Aurora sounds like the type of story fitting Bigelow’s talent, given her action and thriller background. It will probably have more of the same compelling character-driven narrative that fans have come to love from the director. No matter how large scale the scope of the story is, this filmmaker always finds a way to tell an emotionally riveting and human tale.

With the streaming wars heating up, Bigelow is another great director for Netflix to partner with. The novel Aurora is releasing on June 7, and we will probably get more news on the film adaptation soon after that. Check out Netflix's announcement below: