EXCLUSIVE: Hot off the crime drama True Detective, the critically acclaimed eight-episode limited series he directed for HBO starring Matthew McConaughey-Woody Harrelson, Cary Fukunaga is in the middle of a pitch that Fox has bought pre-emptively for mid-six figures. It’s untitled, and it’s set in a contemporary wartime context. And it will be written by Nicole Riegel — who, like Fukunaga, came from the Sundance Labs program and whose script Dogfight was a Black List choice. The deal went down Friday night, with Riegel (who just signed with CAA off all this heat) writing this as a vehicle for Fukunaga to direct. He also will produce with Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar. Fox’s Kira Goldberg and Emma Watts are point on the project.

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It isn’t uncommon to hear that industry people like cutting-edge series on pay and basic cable, but HBO’s True Detective has reached a level of acclaim you don’t often hear. It is also unusual to see one director, Fukunaga, direct every episode. He will stay on as exec producer but will not direct episodes of Season 2 as creator/showrunner Nic Pizzolatto figures out the new storyline in the Anonymous Content-produced series. On the feature front, Fukunaga has several irons in the fire, and next directs his script Beasts Of No Nation, with Idris Elba starring in the Red Crown-funded drama about child soldiers in Ghana. He’s separately developing a feature adaptation of Stephen King’s It at Warner Bros and Noble Assassin at DreamWorks. Both Fukunaga and Riegel are managed by Anonymous Content. He’s with WME and attorney Mike Adler, while she’s at CAA and attorneys David Fox and Kim Stenton.