Quick summary
- Keanu Reeves has signed on to star in Netflix’s action thriller Maelstrom, according to Comic Book Resources.
- He replaces Alan Ritchson, who was attached in July 2026 but had left by October.
- Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed Netflix’s Carry On, is the director.
- The script was first sold in 1993 and sat unmade for more than 30 years.
Keanu Reeves, 62, is the new lead of Maelstrom, a Netflix action thriller built on a script that Hollywood bought in 1993 and then shelved for three decades. Comic Book Resources (CBR) reported this week that Reeves took over the role after Alan Ritchson dropped out.
A script pitched as Die Hard in a hurricane
Gregory Fitzpatrick, then a first-time screenwriter, sold Maelstrom in 1993. According to CBR, it was pitched as “Die Hard in a hurricane”, a nod to the 1988 film that reshaped the genre by putting an ordinary man, rather than a bodybuilder, at the centre of the action.
The story follows a federal agent assigned to protect a woman who is due to testify against her husband, a powerful crime lord who has put a contract on her life. His men find her hideout just as a hurricane arrives and cuts off all communication, leaving the agent and the witness alone against a small army.
CBR sums it up as “John Wick meets Twister”. That is the outlet’s shorthand, not an official description from Netflix.
From a 1990s bidding war to a long wait
Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov bought the script, with CBR putting the price between US$225,000 and US$625,000. The outlet says that is roughly US$500,000 to US$1.4 million in today’s money. It was a sizeable sum for a debut script in an era when studios were hunting for the next Die Hard.
The report says stars such as Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Steven Seagal were considered at the time. The film was never greenlit, though, and the script stayed on a shelf for more than 30 years.
How Netflix revived it
The turnaround came after Netflix had a large streaming hit with Carry On, an airport thriller starring Taron Egerton that was based on a script about 11 years old. According to CBR, Netflix executive Ori Marmur then asked producers for the best high-concept action scripts that had been gathering dust.
Robinov had recently signed a deal with Netflix. When he brought Maelstrom back out, the project moved into production with Carry On director Jaume Collet-Serra. Alan Ritchson was linked to the lead in July 2026, but by October Reeves had replaced him. CBR does not say why Ritchson left.
Why Reeves fits
CBR argues that Reeves has a strong claim to four of the great modern action films: Point Break, Speed, The Matrix and John Wick. It also points out that Speed is, in effect, Die Hard on a bus, which makes a Die Hard-style thriller a natural next step for him. That is the outlet’s opinion rather than a statement from the production.
For readers who follow his work, we also cover his recent projects, including a look back at his film debut Youngblood and the search for a new backer for the samurai film Hidari.
What happens next
The article we read does not give a release date, a shooting schedule, a budget or the rest of the cast. Netflix has not, in the material we reviewed, set out those details. We will update this story when the studio or the filmmakers confirm them. More film news is collected in our Movies section.
Frequently asked questions
Who is starring in Netflix’s Maelstrom?
Keanu Reeves, according to Comic Book Resources. He replaced Alan Ritchson, who had been linked to the film in July 2026.
Who is directing Maelstrom?
Jaume Collet-Serra, who also directed the Netflix thriller Carry On, according to CBR.
What is Maelstrom about?
A federal agent protects a witness from her crime-lord husband as a hurricane isolates them from help while his henchmen close in.
When will Maelstrom be released?
No release date has been given in the source we read.
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