Keanu Reeves To Lead Action Movie ‘Maelstrom’ At Netflix

Keanu Reeves is going back to fighting bad guys. The actor, best known for starring in the John Wick and The Matrix franchises, is now set to take on the lead role in the upcoming Netflix action movie Maelstrom.

Reeves replaces Reacher actor Alan Ritchson, who recently dropped out of the movie for undisclosed reasons.

The upcoming movie revolves around a Federal Marshal who is assigned to protect the fiancée of an arms dealer who is seeking witness protection as she prepares to testify against him. Events unfold over the course of one evening as a hurricane rolls in, cutting off communication from the outside world and stranding them in a safe house without reinforcements. Together, the duo has to fight the men working for the arms dealer while simultaneously dealing with the natural disaster happening right outside their window.

Carry-On filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra is directing the movie, with Mark Bianculli (How to Rob a Bank) finishing off the script from an original first draft by the late screenwriter Gregory Fitzpatrick.

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Maelstrom has been in the making for a long time. Producer (then agent) Jeff Robinov originally sold the film as a spec script to Warner Bros. back in 1993. At the time, the film was described as “Die Hard in a hurricane.”

This action flick will mark the first project for Robinov under his new Netflix deal. The producer and former Warner Bros. Pictures president has shepherded major franchises, including The Dark Knight and The Hangover trilogies.

As for Reeves, the actor has several other projects currently in the works, including a new Warner Bros. sci-fi movie, Shiver, and satirical black comedy The Entertainment System Is Down, from multiple Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund. Reeves is also set to reprise his voice role as Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is scheduled for a cinema release next March.