Per Page Six Hollywood, Keanu Reeves is now attached to star in "Maelstrom," a long-dormant action script that first sold to Warner Bros. back in 1993. More recently, Alan Ritchson ("Reacher") had been in talks for the lead, but he dropped out, clearing the way for the 62-year-old "John Wick" icon.
Jaume Collet-Serra is directing, which makes perfect sense. He's the guy who turned "Carry-On" — a script that sat on a shelf for 11 years — into Netflix's third most-watched film ever.
The premise: a U.S. Marshal is assigned to protect the fiancée of an arms dealer who's entered witness protection ahead of testifying against him. It all unfolds over a single night as a hurricane hits, knocking out communications and leaving the pair to fend off the dealer's goons and the storm itself.
"Die Hard" in a hurricane, essentially.
The backstory is just as interesting. Screenwriter Greg Fitzpatrick sold the spec to Warners 33 years ago, during that post-"Die Hard" gold rush when every studio was hunting for the next one-man vehicle. The agent on that sale? Jeff Robinov, then at ICM — who later ran Warner Bros. film and is now producing "Maelstrom" as the first big title under his Netflix deal. Talk about full circle.
The revival came about after Netflix exec Ori Marmur, who resurrected "Carry-On," reportedly put the word out to top producers to bring him their best unmade high-concept projects. Mark Bianculli handled the rewrite; he also wrote Collet-Serra's upcoming "Cliffhanger" remake with Pierce Brosnan and Lily James — itself another '93 revival.
Reeves at 62, still doing action — there's something reassuring about that. He's got a packed 2027. First, he returns as the voice of Shadow in "Sonic the Hedgehog 4." Then comes "Shiver," Tim Miller's sci-fi survival thriller for Warner Bros., opening August 13. He's also in Ruben Östlund's "The Entertainment System Is Down," alongside Kirsten Dunst. And as reported last week, he's in final negotiations to lead James Wan's remake of the 2019 Korean thriller "The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil" at Paramount, which shoots in January.
As for Collet-Serra, I've called him a master of elevated mediocrity, and I stand by it. "Carry-On" was a watchable "Die Hard" rip-off, nothing more and nothing less, but his style fits streaming perfectly. He also made some of Liam Neeson's better action movies: "Non-Stop," "Run All Night" and "Unknown."
Claffey 6'5" and played professional rugby before he got into acting, so the physicality is already there for Beast. If you saw what Claffey did as Dunk this past winter, you'll understand why Marvel bit.