After his stint directing a large portion of Ozark while starring as one of the leads, Jason Bateman is back at Netflix to direct Dark Wire, a thriller on FBI surveillance, as reported by Deadline. It will be produced by Stranger Things producers Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine, with the Ozark star and Michael Costigan. Matthew Orton (Operation Finale) will write the script.
The story will be based on the real story that was detailed in the upcoming book by WIRED journalist Joseph Cox. The Jason Bateman project for Netflix covers how the FBI faked a telecom company and became the provider for one of the world’s most infamous gangs, leading to the arrest of over 1,000 international criminals.
Jason Bateman to direct Netflix film Dark Wire, based on a book by Joseph Cox
Personal news: I'm writing a book on one of the craziest law enforcement stings ever, where the FBI secretly ran its own tech startup called Anom & used it to wiretap hundreds of organized crime gangs globally. DARK WIRE will tell that insane story from the people who were there. pic.twitter.com/xkfWi3Nff6
— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) August 16, 2022
In recent years, Jason Bateman has gone beyond acting as he directed some episodes of the Netflix series Ozark, which put him on the radar of dramas after being associated with comedies like Arrested Development. Helming episodes of the series got him an Emmy for the episode A Hard Way to Go. When it comes to other features, he has directed Bad Words and The Family Fang. He is currently set to direct Here Comes the Flood, a drama being written by Simon Kinberg (The Twilight Zone).
When it comes to acting, the Ozark and Arrested Development star has a stack of projects. He will star in the untitled Nike film that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are working on. He is filming the thriller Carry On with Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Sofia Carson (Purple Hearts), and Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven). He will join Ryan Reynolds in Clue, which will be directed by James Bobin (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) and writers Dewayne Perkins (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Rhett Reese (Deadpool), and Oren Uziel (Mortal Kombat).