Chris Hemsworth’s Next Netflix Movie Revealed After Monster Success of ‘Extraction’

Chris Hemsworth’s next Netflix original film has been announced, and it is titled Spiderhead. The new movie follows the success of Hemsworth’s Netflix debut, Extraction, and puts him alongside co-stars like Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett. It is an adaptation of a short story by author George Saunders and will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, according to a report by Deadline.

Spiderhead is a near-future speculative fiction story, set in a world where convicts are offered a chance to volunteer for medical experiments in exchange for shortening their prison sentences. It centers on two prisoners who are tested with a drug for altering emotions, which gives them hallucinogenic flashbacks to their pasts. The original story by Saunders was published by The New Yorker and was later included in his bestselling short story collection Tenth Of December. So far, it is not clear how much the movie will deviate from the source material.

Hemsworth and Netflix proved that they could be a powerful partnership with the success of Extraction, released back in April. It was reportedly Netflix’s most-watched feature film of all time.

The action movie teamed Hemsworth back up with Avengers co-director Joe Russo, who wrote the script, and co-wrote the graphic novel the movie was based on. At the time of this writing, Extraction has a 67 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics called Hemsworth’s performance the highlight of the film.

Still, the action movie setting of Extraction is a far cry from the bizarre world of Spiderhead, which may be new territory for Hemsworth. Luckily, he will be joined by Smollett, who has been making waves for her performance on Lovecraft Country over the last few weeks.

The screenplay adaptation of Spiderhead is being written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, known for movies like Zombieland and Deadpool. It will be Kosinski’s first project since Top Gun: Maverick, which also had Teller in it.

Fans were immediately enthusiastic about the announcement of Spiderhead from all angles — including fans of Saunders, fans of Hemsworth and everyone in between. Social media is filled with speculation and comparisons, with many imagining that the movie will have a lot in common with Netflix’s Black Mirror or other in-house productions.

So far, there is no release date in place for Spiderhead, and it is not clear if the movie will be able to enter production any time soon due to the coronavirus pandemic. Extraction is now streaming on Netflix.