Keanu Reeves Steps Into Netflix's Hurricane Action Thriller "Maelstrom"
Keanu Reeves is set to star in "Maelstrom", a Netflix action movie, after Alan Ritchson dropped out of the project, Variety reported. Jaume Collet-Serra is directing the film for the streaming service.
The story runs over a single evening. A Federal Marshal has to guard the fiancée of an arms dealer who is seeking witness protection so that she can testify against him. A hurricane then cuts off outside communication and blocks reinforcements, leaving the marshal and his charge to hold out on their own.
The script is being polished by Mark Bianculli, working from a first draft by the late writer Gregory Fitzpatrick. Bianculli's version is the one now moving toward production.
The project has a long history. It began as a spec script, meaning a screenplay written on speculation without a studio commission, and was sold to Warner Bros. in 1993 by producer Jeff Robinov, who was then a talent agent. At the time it was pitched as "Die Hard" in a hurricane. Variety put the 1993 price at roughly $225,000 to $625,000.
Robinov is now a producer, and "Maelstrom" is the first project under his new deal with Netflix. That makes the film a early sign of what his new arrangement will look like on screen. Netflix, which streams its films to subscribers rather than releasing them in cinemas first, has not yet announced a release date.
Reeves has several other projects in the pipeline. He is in talks to lead James Wan's next film, "The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil", for Paramount, according to Variety. He will also return as the voice of Shadow in "Sonic the Hedgehog 4", which is slated for 2027.
Page Six Hollywood first reported Reeves's casting in "Maelstrom", and the story has been confirmed by Variety.
For readers who follow the business, the path is worth noting. A script written in the early 1990s, sold for a modest sum, and passed through several hands can end up on a streaming platform more than three decades later. Each step depended on people deciding to keep the project alive, and the same is true of the cast now attached.
