After a ten-year hiatus from the director’s chair, Spike Jonze is reportedly set to helm a sci-fi series for Netflix that could include Joaquin Phoenix in the cast. Phoenix appeared in Jonze’s last feature, “Her,” which was released in 2013.
The report was first published in Puck, which described the series as “lavish” and revealed that writers have already been selected. Other reports have described the new project as “on track to be one of the most expensive shows in Netflix’s history.”
It’s also being whispered that Jonze is working on another animated series for Netflix that is unrelated to the sci-fi project. Published reports speculate that it could have something to do with Arcade Fire’s album The Suburbs.
Since making his directorial debut 24 years ago with Being John Malkovich (1999), Jonze has made only three other movies: Adaptation (2002), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), and Her (2013). According to Michel Gondry, Jonze came close to directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a 2004 film that Gondry ended up helming.
The 53-year-old Jonze was born as Adam Siegel in New York City. His earliest creative projects focused on the youth culture of the 1980s, with skateboarding as a primary theme.
He made several films on this subject, including Video Days (1991). He also directed numerous music videos in the 1990s, working with such performers as Björk, R.
E.M., Sonic Youth, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, and Kanye West, among others.
Jonze’s most recent film, Her, released in December of 2013, was directed from his own original screenplay. In addition to Joaquin Phoenix, it starred Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Scarlett Johansson. The movie received rave reviews from most critics, including Scott Foundras of Variety, who declared that it was Jonze’s “richest and most emotionally mature work to date.” Her received several Academy Award nominations and won Jonze a Golden Globe Award for best screenplay.
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