Netflix Reimagines The Great Gatsby With a Bold Twist

Netflix is taking a big swing at The Great Gatsby, but not the one you already know. Stephen Gaghan is writing and directing a loose, modern spin called 'Valley of Ashes' that shifts the Jazz Age drama into Silicon Valley. Yes, tech money meets Gatsby. I am listening.

What Netflix is making

'Valley of Ashes' is Gaghan's next directing gig, and Netflix moved fast to lock it down after executives heard his pitch. The project is being described as a modern, very loose adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 classic 'The Great Gatsby'—but this time the valley is more Palo Alto than Long Island. Plot specifics are still under wraps, but the setting is expected to center on Silicon Valley.

"Netflix execs were reportedly blown away by his pitch and grabbed the project before it was shopped around."

One note on a weird phrasing floating around: some reports call Gaghan a 'Syrian' director. He is not. He is the 'Syriana' director. Easy typo, very different meaning.

Who is making it

• Writer/director: Stephen Gaghan, an Academy Award winner for writing Steven Soderbergh's 2000 crime drama 'Traffic' (Best Adapted Screenplay).
• Producer: Gaghan through his Super Emotional banner.
• Producer: Jennifer Fox, reuniting with Gaghan after 2005's 'Syriana'.
• Gaghan's directing credits: 'Abandon' (2002), 'Syriana' (2005), 'Gold' (2016), and 'Dolittle' (2020).

Why 'Valley of Ashes' is a clever title

It nods to the novel's bleak stretch of industrial wasteland between West Egg and Manhattan—the ash heaps where the story's moral rot peeks through. Translating that metaphor to the tech world could be sharp if Gaghan leans into the excess, the myth-making, and the empty glitz.

A quick refresher on the original Gatsby

Fitzgerald's book follows Nick Carraway, a bond salesman who moves to Long Island in the Jazz Age and gets pulled into the orbit of his mysterious, self-made neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby throws those huge parties for one reason: to win back Daisy, the woman he loves—even though she is married.

And yes, you probably remember the last big movie

Baz Luhrmann's 2013 version went full spectacle with Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy. Gaghan's take sounds like it will be a very different animal—more update than remake.

For now, Netflix and Gaghan are keeping the story details quiet. But a Silicon Valley Gatsby with Gaghan's bite? That could actually cut through the noise.