Keanu Reeves Takes Over Lead Role From Alan Ritchson in Netflix Action Thriller MAELSTROM
Keanu Reeves is jumping into another action thriller, and this one sounds like it could get pretty intense. The John Wick star is set to headline Netflix’s Maelstrom, taking over the lead role from Alan Ritchson, who recently exited the project for undisclosed reasons.
Reeves will team up with Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously directed Netflix’s Carry-On. The film has all the ingredients for a cool, action-packed survival thriller, with a deadly hurricane, an isolated safe house, and a group of armed killers determined to get inside.
The story follows a Federal Marshal tasked with protecting the fiancée of an arms dealer who has agreed to become a witness. Things go horribly wrong when a hurricane tears through the area, cutting off communications and leaving the marshal and his witness trapped without backup.
With the arms dealer’s men closing in, the two have to survive one brutal night against attackers who have no intention of letting them walk away.
Reeves seems like a great fit for the role. Watching him fight off waves of gunmen while a massive storm rages outside sounds like a fun time.
Ritchson, best known for his work on Reacher, was originally attached to star, but there's currently no word on why he stepped away. Netflix has declined to comment on the casting change.
Maelstrom has been floating around Hollywood for more than three decades. The project was originally developed as a spec script at Warner Bros. way back in 1993. The late Gregory Fitzpatrick wrote the original screenplay, while Mark Bianculli is responsible for the current draft. After all these years, it looks like the film is finally gaining some serious momentum.
Reeves has also been keeping himself busy with a growing collection of upcoming projects. He's recently entered talks to star in James Wan's adaptation of the South Korean crime thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil for Paramount. He's also returning to voice Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
Another project in development is Kill Current: A Jon Hendricks Thriller, an adaptation of the upcoming novel by Oliver Lowe. That film will be the first production under Reeves' new company, Two Dragonflies, which he's launching alongside partners The Arena and Zando.
His upcoming slate also includes the Warner Bros. sci-fi film Shiver and The Entertainment System Is Down. With Maelstrom, Reeves has another opportunity to get back into the kind of hard-hitting action that fans love seeing him tackle.
Collet-Serra has already shown with Carry-On that he knows how to build tension around characters trapped in dangerous situations, so pairing him with Reeves for a hurricane-battered siege thriller could make for a great Netflix action movie.
There’s no release date announced for Maelstrom yet, but I’m definitely interested in seeing how this one comes together.
Source: Deadline