S. Craig Zahler Has Two Movies In The Works, & Says Michael Mann Cop Thriller ‘The Big Stone Grid’ Won’t Be Next

Writer/director S. Craig Zahler made quite the splash with his gnarly genre films “Bone Tomahawk,” “Brawl In Cellblock 99,” cementing himself as an auteur with a very particular point of view. It’s been almost six years since 2018’s cops and robbers thriller “Dragged Across Concrete,” and if you’re curious about what Zahler is up to next, well, he’s delivered an overdue update in trying to clear up some misinformation. For one, the filmmaker reveals he has two films in the development queue, one of which is “The Big Stone Grid,” which has been in the works for over a decade.

The filmmaker took to his Good Reads page/blog (via FilmStage) to refute claims that “The Big Stone Grid” would be his next feature and gave an update on the process. “A number of articles have announced ‘The Big Stone Grid’ as my next picture, which is not quite correct,” he wrote. “I am sending that script around as a possible fifth movie, but I’ve made far more progress with another different original project to direct for my fourth one: I am negotiating deals to see if it will become a reality. I will give more information about this when things are more certain.” Zahler also promised he’d share future updates about those films when he was ready to do so.

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If you’re unfamiliar with “The Big Stone Grid,” it is an unmade cop thriller spec script that Zahler wrote for Sony Pictures. The crime film once had Michael Mann (“Heat”) attached to direct back in the 2010s before he decided to make the hacker thriller “Blackhat” instead, starring Chris Hemsworth. Original reports described the film as a “hard-edge thriller” with a mix of “Seven” meets “Marathon Man.” The story focuses on two decorated detectives who uncover a terrifying extortion ring that operates within the secret underbelly of New York City.

As for Zahler’s fourth film, the details of that one remain a mystery, adding to the intrigue about what genre he might try on for size. It sounds like the filmmaker is pitching both his feature projects to suitors and studios concurrently, which leads to confusion about the shooting order. Still, it sounds like the mystery film is in the pole position.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Zahler reunites with actor Vince Vaughn following their collaborations on “Brawl In Cellbock 99” and “Dragged Across Concrete,” which co-starred Mel Gibson in the leading role.