David Ayer may not be returning to direct the Bright sequel for Netflix, but the streamer has just tapped Ayer to write, direct and produce the thriller Six Years, based on the bestselling suspense novel by Harlan Coben.

The story follows a brokenhearted college professor who attends the funeral of his ex-girlfriend's husband. It has been six years since he has last seen her, only to find that the grieving widow isn't the woman he remembers. He becomes determined to find her and get the truth.

Ayer will produce with Chris Long through their Cedar Park banner, which just re-upped its TV deal with eOne after generating the Stephen Dorff series Deputy and Andrew Renzi's acclaimed documentary Ready for War about military veterans.

Netflix has already adapted Coben's books The Stranger (which I really liked) and Safe, and the streamer will release a six-part Polish series based on the author's mystery novel The Woods later this year. My favorite Coben adaptation remains the 2006 French film Tell No One, which Hollywood has been trying to remake for more than a decade, to no avail.

Ayer broke out with his screenplay for Training Day before going on to direct the macho movies Harsh Times, Street Kings, End of Watch, Sabotage, and Fury. DC's much-maligned Suicide Squad made Ayer a big-budget director, and led to him re-teaming with Will Smith on Bright. Up next for Ayer is the gritty indie The Tax Collector starring a tatted-up Shia LaBeouf, and he's also developing a remake of The Dirty Dozen, as well as the WWII tank battle tale El-Alamein for Lionsgate. To read more about the Bright sequel, which boasts a screenplay co-written by Ayer, click here.