Keanu Reeves is set to star in Maelstrom, a new Netflix action flick from Carry-On‘s Jaume Collet-Serra, sources have confirmed to Deadline.
Reeves takes over the lead from Reacher‘s Alan Ritchson, who exited the project for undisclosed reasons. Reps for Netflix declined to comment.
In Maelstrom, a Federal Marshal assigned to protect the fiancée of an arms dealer turned witness must defend her through one brutal night as a hurricane cuts off communication, strands them without reinforcements, and unleashes the dealer’s men on their safe house.
The current draft of the script is by Mark Bianculli; the first draft was by the late Gregory Fitzpatrick. This is one of those projects that has been working its way through the system for many years, having first been set up as a spec at Warner Bros. back in 1993.
Jeff Robinov will produce alongside Tabitha Shick and Talking Pictures.
Coming off the fourth installment of his John Wick franchise, Reeves has been aggressively expanding his slate of late. Most recently, he entered talks to lead James Wan’s take on South Korean crime actioner The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil for Paramount, where he’s also set to reprise his voice role of Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. As we first reported, Reeves recently set up an adaptation of the forthcoming Oliver Lowe novel Kill Current: A Jon Hendricks Thriller as another starring vehicle. That film will mark the first project produced under his new banner Two Dragonflies. His partners are The Arena and Zando.
Other upcoming projects for Reeves include the Warner Bros. sci-fi flick Shiver and The Entertainment System Is Down, from multiple Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund. Page Six Hollywood announced his Maelstrom casting.