Netflix believes in Jeremy Saulnier.
After all, how could it not? The brutal genre filmmaker has made a name for himself through the streaming giant over the years, especially after his 2013 breakthrough thriller Blue Ruin conquered living rooms all across the world through the service.
Well, now they’re getting behind his forthcoming thriller, the follow-up to last year’s most excellent Green Room. It’s called Hold the Dark, and it’s an adaptation of William Giraldi’s 2014 best-selling novel, which screams for Saulnier’s keen eye.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Written with “force and precision and grace” (John Wilwol, New York Times Book Review) Hold the Dark is a “taut and unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness” (Dennis Lehane). At the start of another pitiless winter, wolves have taken three children from the remote Alaskan village of Keelut, including the six-year-old son of Medora and Vernon Slone. Wolf expert Russell Core is called in to investigate these killings and discovers an unholy truth harbored by Medora before she disappears. When her husband returns home to discover his boy dead and his wife missing, he begins a maniacal pursuit that cuts a bloody swath across the frozen landscape. With the help of a local police detective, Core attempts to find Medora before her husband does, setting in motion a deadly chain of events in this “chilling, mysterious, and completely engaging novel” (Tim O’Brien) that marks the arrival of a major American writer.
According to the Calgary Herald, Saulnier will start shooting the film on February 27th in Alberta, Canada, which will double for Alaska. As Bloody Disgusting reports, the film will also shoot in Morocco presumably for scenes involving the Iraq War.
Chalk this up as another big win for Netflix, who continue to dominate. Saulnier’s a key force right now in original, gripping filmmaking, and one of the reasons we placed Green Room at No. 2 on our recent year-end list.
