Ron Howard to Direct ‘Alone at Dawn' — Afghanistan-Set War Movie

Ron Howard apparently has two new projects in the works.

According to Puck News, Howard’s actual next film looks to be “Alone at Dawn,” an adaptation of the nonfiction book by Dan Schilling and Lori Longfritz.

The story follows John Chapman, an Air Force combat controller who gave his life during the War in Afghanistan while saving 23 fellow soldiers — a sacrifice that earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor. It's a story that, tonally, might be in the same vein as “Lone Survivor.”

This is not the same Howard project that had Glen Powell attached to star in the lead role. That one was reported to be about elite firefighters “who must rekindle their fractured relationship when a series of deadly fires sweep across Texas.” It recently landed at Amazon/MGM.

EARLIER: After struggling to find a distributor with his last film, “Eden,” Lars von Trier’s favorite filmmaker, Ron Howard will live to see another day in Hollywood. Here’s TheInSneider reporting that Howard is teaming up with Glen Powell for an untitled firefighter movie over at Amazon/MGM.

The film comes only three years after Amazon/MGM dumped Howard’s well-received “Thirteen Lives" to streaming on Prime Video. As mentioned, Howard struggled to find a distributor on his last one, “Eden,” which was finally, very recently, bought by Vertical for August release.

Howard, who wowed Oscar voters with “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” and “Frost/Nixon,” hasn’t had a critical or commercial hit since 2013’s “Rush.” Has his stock crumbled? Not quite yet. Teaming up with Powell is a big deal for him, and no, this isn’t going to be a reboot of Howard’s “Backdraft,” it’s an original script, penned by Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey”).