Netflix Developing New Hitchcockian-Style Movie Into Action Thriller

Published Sep 16, 2026, 5:20 PM EDT

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies run the gamut from To Catch a Thief and Strangers on a Train, to The Birds and Psycho. Rear Window also ranks highly on that list, with the film adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder” starring Jimmy Stewart as a wheelchair-using photojournalist who suspects one of his neighbors of murder. One of Netflix’s upcoming action movies will reportedly take inspiration from Hitchcock’s popular mystery thriller.

Deadline reports that Netflix has tapped Warfare director Ray Mendoza to helm Scope, with Jungle Cruise’s Jaume Collet-Serra on board as a producer. The publication describes Scope as a “mystery action thriller in the vein of Disturbia and Rear Window” following a “battle-hardened special forces operator” who’s recovering from a terrible injury when he gets involved in an “unexpected suburban mystery.” Blood of Zeus duo Charley and Vlas Parlapanides wrote the spec script with Scott Charnick, and Netflix picked it up through Collet-Serra Jadis Collective production banner.

Max Jacoby will also produce Scope through Jadis Collective, as will Underground’s Trevor Engelson and Josh McGuire. This is the latest project to emerge from Collet-Serra's film and TV deal with Netflix, which was put together after the overwhelming success of his 2024 airport action thriller Carry-On, starring Taron Egerton as a TSA officer who’s blackmailed into sneaking a nerve onto a Christmas Eve flight. Along with earning positive critical reception, Carry-On still ranks as Netflix’s third most-viewed movie of all time, trailing behind KPop Demon Hunters and Red Notice.

Mendoza co-directed and co-wrote 2025’s Warfare with Annihilation and Civil War filmmaker Alex Garland, with the movie being inspired by Mendoza’s time as a U.S. Navy SEAL during the Iraq War. Released by A24 in April 2025, the war movie was also received positively, and made over $35 million worldwide. ScreenRant’s Warfare review rated the movie seven out of 10 stars, stating that “Warfare doesn't struggle to keep you on the edge of your seat as soon as the narrative turns and the action gets going.”

Rear Window was released in 1954, 12 years after the publication of "It Had to Be Murder,” with Stewart being joined by Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr, among others. Along with its exceptional standing in Hitchcock’s filmography, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress in 1997 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” It was announced in 2024 that a Rear Window TV adaptation is in the works.

Scope will be Mendoza’s second solo directorial effort, following the Western drama Blood on the Promontory, which doesn’t have a release date set yet. Collet-Serra's next directorial efforts for Netflix include the psychological thrillers Play Dead and An Innocent Girl. Neither of these movies have been scheduled yet, but the latter began filming in late April. He also has the Cliffhanger reboot coming up, which is expected to be released in 2027 by Vertical.

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