Joe Wright has his follow-up to “M: The Son Of A Century” lined up, and it’s all about one of culture’s most hot-button topics.
Deadline reports that the British director will helm the upcoming AI thriller “Alignment” from Fifth Season. The project was one of the most coveted directing gigs circulating before Wright signed on. Makeready will produce the flick, with Natan Dotan penning the film’s script. “Joker” and Joker: Folie á Deux” writer Scott Silver executive produces.
“Alignment” is the latest Hollywood film to tackle the dark possibilities of AI. However, unlike the action-packed high stakes involving The Entity in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” Wright’s film sounds more grounded in human drama. The film’s plot centers on a board member and a software engineer in a race against time to convince their tech company to shut down their latest AI model before its market manipulations trigger a global catastrophe. This one sounds more like a corporate drama than a globe-trotting adventure, so expect something more like “The Insider” than anything else.
After winning the bidding war for “Alignment” late last year, Fifth Season has put Wright’s next film on the fast track. Six directors were in talks to helm the pic before Wright won over producers, and now the production company wants the film in theaters as quickly as possible, given AI being such a contemporary hot topic. So, in that case, expect casting news on this project very soon.
Wright hasn’t directed a feature film since 2021’s “Cyrano” (his long-delayed, giallo-shaded Netflix thriller “The Woman In The Window” also debuted that year). His other work includes “Pride & Prejudice,” “Atonement,” and “Anna Karenina,” and “Darkest Hour.” More recently, Wright helmed two episodes of Showtime‘s critical favorite “The Agency,” and serves as an executive producer on the series.
Given the buzz around “Alignment,” expect it in theaters in late 2025/early 2026.
