Mike Gan, director of the Into the Dark film School Spirit and the Suki Waterhouse thriller Burn, has signed on to direct a currently-untitled survival thriller for The Batman director Matt Reeves, who will be producing the film, and the Netflix streaming service.
The script for the thriller was written by Sarah Conradt-Kroehler, and was known as Dead of Winter when it was featured on the Black List (an annual survey of the most-liked unproduced scripts). The story digs into
how a family's vacation in the mountains becomes a fight for survival when they're confronted by a dangerous criminal on the run.
Sounds like a solid set-up for a thriller to me.
Conradt-Kroehler's script has been around for quite a while; in fact, a version of Dead of Winter was announced eight years ago, with Hailee Steinfeld attached to star in it and music video veteran Anthony Mandler set to direct. If that had gotten off the ground, Steinfeld would have been playing
a teen who heads to a remote cabin in the mountains with her father and new stepmother — an experience he hopes will bring the two ladies closer together. When a dangerous fugitive posing as a park ranger shows up, the trio must put aside the family bonding to fight for survival.
Hopefully this new version of the project will have better luck than that one did, and will actually get made.
Matt Reeves will be producing the film through his company 6th & Idaho. Gan's Burn producer Sukee Chew will also be producing this one.