Kathryn Bigelow signs on to direct Aurora for Netflix

By Blair Marnell March 31, 2022

Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to have won Best Director at the Academy Awards. But it’s been half a decade since Bigelow made her last film. Fortunately, her career hiatus is over. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Bigelow has signed a deal to direct a new film called Aurora for Netflix.

Aurora is based on an upcoming novel by screenwriter David Koepp. The book follows a divorced mother’s story against the backdrop of a cataclysmic solar storm that destroys most of the power grids on the planet. In the dark days that follow, the mother must protect her child and her estranged brother, a man whose Silicon Valley wealth has allowed him to build a real doomsday bunker. According to THR, the film’s focus will be on “characters who are coping with the collapse of the social order, set against a catastrophic worldwide power crisis.”

Bigelow won her Oscar in 2010 for helming The Hurt Locker. Prior to that, she directed Near Dark, Point Break, and Strange Days, among other films. She also won acclaim for her 2013 film, Zero Dark Thirty, which dramatized the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Her most recent movie, Detroit, was released in 2017.

Kathryn Bigelow attends SFFILM's 60th Anniversary Awards Night. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Koepp is one of the most successful screenwriters in the industry, with credits including the first Spider-Man film, the initial Mission: Impossible movie, and Jurassic Park among many others. He recently scripted the HBO Max original film Kimi. In addition to writing the Aurora novel, Koepp will adapt his story as a screenplay for Netflix as well.

The Aurora novel will be published on June 7 by HarperCollins. The film will be produced by Greg Shapiro and Gavin Polone, both of whom are production partners with Bigelow. Currently, there is no timetable for the Aurora movie to begin production.

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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…

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