Maelstrom has been waiting since 1993. The spec screenplay, written by the late Gregory Fitzpatrick and originally pitched as "Die Hard in a hurricane," was sold to Warner Bros. that year and spent more than three decades in development. According to Collider, it has now found its lead in Keanu Reeves, who is replacing Alan Ritchson.
Ritchson's exit was not explained. Reeves steps into the lead role of a federal marshal assigned to guard the fiancee of an arms dealer who is entering witness protection. The action unfolds over a single night as a hurricane severs outside communication, leaving the pair at the mercy of the dealer's henchmen.
Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed Netflix's Carry-On, is directing. Jeff Robinov, the former Warner Bros. Pictures president who oversaw The Dark Knight trilogy and The Hangover franchise, is producing. Maelstrom is the first project under Robinov's new deal with Netflix. Mark Bianculli is working on a new draft of the original Fitzpatrick script.
No production timeline or release date has been set. For Reeves, this adds to a dense period of activity: he is separately in talks for James Wan's The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil at Paramount, and is set to voice Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 4 in 2027. The concept has been loosely described as Die Hard meets Twister. Whether it stays that way under Collet-Serra, whose instinct tends toward geometry and claustrophobia, is the more interesting question.
