Joseph Kosinski Will Direct NO EXIT, Based On The Yarnell Hill Wildfire

Joseph Kosinski, director of two visually-amazing but otherwise empty films, has selected his next project. And guess what? It's not another wildly-expensive attempt to launch (or relaunch) a sci-fi franchise.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, No Exit will be based on the Yarnell Hill Wildfire of 2013, a sprawling disaster that spread over 8,400 acres and reached temperatures over 2,000 degress before claiming the lives of 19 firefighters. All of those firefighters were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an offshoot of the Prescott, Arizona Fire Department who specialized in battling wildfires. Apparently, Kosinski's film will focus on their doomed attempt to get the fire under control. 

On the one hand, the Yarnell Hill Wildfire certainly has the makings for a spectacular disaster film, and Kosinski has proven himself capable of putting spectacle on film in the past. On the other hand, this sort of story feels like it would be better approached by a director who can marry spectacle with heart, something Kosinski has not proven himself capable of in the past. On yet another hand, I'm ambivalent about this whole thing because, really, I'm not convinced this needs to be a movie.

One last note, though: No Exit's script was written by Ken Nolan, who also wrote Black Hawk Down for Ridley Scott. That's gotta be worth something, right?