Zack Snyder to Direct, Co-Write LAPD Action Thriller for Netflix (Exclusive)

Zack Snyder is calling the cops.

With his two-part epic sci-fi saga Rebel Moon behind him, the filmmaker is reteaming with Netflix for a new feature project, this one an untitled action movie centered on the Los Angeles Police Department.

Snyder will direct the feature and is co-writing it with Kurt Johnstad, his frequent collaborator with whom he’s worked on the 300, the adaptation of the Frank Miller comic, and the Rebel Moon movies, among others.

Snyder is producing along wife and partner Deborah Snyder and Wesley Coller via the trio’s Stone Quarry banner.

The project promises to be Snyder’s first truly grounded feature as it won’t be populated by laser-shooting rebels, brain-eating zombies, bone-breaking caped crusaders, or limb-severing Spartans that have made up the oeuvre of the popular filmmaker. But it promises to be just as dramatic, thematically-weighty, and action-packed.

Specific details are being kept in lock-up, but the action thriller is being described as being set in the high-stakes world of life and death and centered on an elite LAPD unit that is relentlessly confronted with the unforgiving collision of law and morality.

The project will mark a full circle moment for Snyder. More than 20 years ago, as he was seeking to transition from music videos and commercials, he landed his first feature with S.W.A.T., an action movie set up at Sony. He wanted to make — big surprise — an R-rated movie. The studio wanted PG-13. Snyder ended up quitting the project. However, certain ideas and concepts remained handcuffed to his brain.

“Years ago, Dan [Lin, Netflix’s head of film] and I had a conversation about our shared interest in telling a compelling and visceral character-driven story set within the intense, complex and captivating landscape of the LAPD. It’s a conversation that has stuck with me,” said Snyder in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “So, as you would expect, I’m very excited to now have the opportunity to partner with Dan, along with the rest of my amazing partners at Netflix, in developing this story.”

The new LAPD project will be the fourth feature Snyder will have directed for Netflix, after Rebel Moon, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, and Army of the Dead. It will also be the sixth project Stone Quarry will have made for Netflix, as the banner produced Dead prequel Army of Thieves, and the animated series Twilight of the Gods, which was released in September.

Snyder, who’s pottery hobby this year grew into a unique deal with Encino-based Pasta Bar to supply plates for the Michelin-starred restaurant, is repped by CAA and Sloane Offer.