Bigelow to direct pilot for HBO

Kathryn Bigelow will direct `The Miraculous Year.`

Los Angeles: HBO has snagged the hottest film director at the moment, Oscar nominee for `The Hurt Locker’ Kathryn Bigelow.Bigelow will direct "The Miraculous Year," a drama pilot by feature writer John Logan that explores a New York family through the lens of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer.

Logan, who is executive producing with Bigelow and Lydia Pilcher, was a Chicago-based playwright before his first screenplay, "Any Given Sunday," got the attention of Oliver Stone. "Miraculous Year" has been given a pilot order, with filming expected to begin in May or June. Bigelow, who also plans to direct the South America-set feature "Triple Frontier," has rarely ventured to television. She directed three episodes of NBC`s "Homicide: Life on the Street," including the two-part sixth-season finale in 1998, and an episode of ABC`s short-lived "Karen Sisco." "Miraculous Year," a light family drama with a flamboyant character at the center, marks Bigelow`s first pilot as well as a major departure for the director, who`s known mostly for gritty fare such as "Strange Days" and "K-19: The Widowmaker." Bigelow recently became the first woman to win a Directors Guild of America Award. She has picked up more than a dozen major directing prizes for her work on "Hurt Locker." In addition to being a front-runner for the directing Oscar next month, Bigelow is also part of the Iraq war drama`s producing team that won the PGA Award and is up for a best picture Oscar. Logan previously collaborated with HBO on the Orson Welles telepic "RKO 281," which he wrote. He has earned two original screenplay Oscar nominations, for "The Aviator" and "Gladiator." His writing credits also include "The Last Samurai," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and a second collaboration with director Martin Scorsese following "The Aviator," the upcoming "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." Logan`s new play, "Red," starring Alfred Molina as the artist Mark Rothko, opens on Broadway April 1. Bureau Report