Netflix Is Reimagining a 2021 Film With an Acclaimed Director at the Helm

Netflix is dusting off a recent French thriller and giving it the remake treatment. The streamer has locked in a director, but beyond that, we’re mostly in hurry-up-and-wait mode.

The project

Per Deadline, Netflix has picked up the rights to the 2021 French film 'Black Box' and is developing an English-language remake. Tim Fehlbaum, fresh off his latest feature 'September 5,' is set to direct.

Who is on board so far

• Director: Tim Fehlbaum ('September 5')
• Producers: Andrew Mittman (1.21), Wassim Beji, Thibault Gast, Matthias Weber
• Executive Producer: Kai Dolbashian

So what is 'Black Box' about?

The original follows a black box specialist who is assigned to investigate a devastating plane crash. While combing through the cockpit audio, he notices eerie irregularities that everyone else either misses or ignores. His dogged digging pulls on threads that lead to a cover-up, and the louder he gets, the more dangerous it becomes for him. It’s a lean, paranoid thriller built around the incredibly unglamorous but genuinely tense work of listening, rewinding, and obsessing over tiny sounds.

Why Fehlbaum makes sense here

Fehlbaum’s most recent film, 'September 5,' hit theaters in January 2025 and starred Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, and Leonie Benesch. That movie went on to snag a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 97th Academy Awards, which is a nice bit of momentum to bring into a conspiracy-tinged thriller like this. On paper, it’s a good match: methodical tension and moral rot are kind of his lane.

Where things stand

No casting yet. No production start date. No release window. Deadline’s report didn’t include any of that, so for now the only concrete piece is the director and the producing team. Given how recent the original is, I’m curious to see how much they transplant versus reinvent.

A quick refresher on the 2021 film

Yann Gozlan directed the French version, which starred Pierre Niney, Lou de Laage, and Andre Dussollier. It was well-liked by critics, sitting at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words: Netflix isn’t remaking a dud here, they’re trying to repackage a strong potboiler for a wider audience.