As directors, Joel and Ethan Coen haven’t announced their next project following February’s Hail, Caesar! As writers, however, they’ve kept themselves busy. They recently penned George Clooney’s currently-filming Suburbicon. Now, they’re set to write Dark Web, an Internet thriller set up at Fox. There’s no word yet on if they’ve considered directing it as well. That should change in due time.
Based on a two-part Wired article from 2015, Dark Web is a true story centered around William Ulbricht. He’s a 29-year-old idealist who built an online illegal marketplace known as “The Silk Road” under the name Dread Pirate Roberts. Along the way, he became a murderous kingpin. Allegedly.
Best-selling author Dennis Lehane was initially writing the film before the Coens came aboard. It’s unclear if they’ll be influenced by his draft, or start fresh.
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Based on its labyrinth twists relating to crime and murder, the story earned comparisons to the Coens’ work, particularly Fargo, as THR reports. Indeed, it’s in their wheelhouse, even though technology rarely — if ever — functions into their work. Perhaps the new perspective will invigorate them? Hopefully, Fox doesn’t give them the same deal they gave poor Lehane.
While the Coens are often known to direct their own scripts, they’ve contributed their pen to more projects away from their lens of late. They wrote 2012’s underwhelming Gambit. They also contributed to Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken in 2014 and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies last year, in addition to Clooney’s upcoming movie.
