Once upon a time television was seen as the rejected cousin of film. Budgets were small and should a movie star appear in a show they were pretty much acknowledging that their film career was over. For want of a better way to explain it television was where movie stars went to retire. Thankfully now though everything has changed and the ‘small’ screen is well and truly fighting the big screen.
You only have to look at the popularity of shows such as Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, 24, Arrow and Breaking Bad to see this. Budgets have clearly gotten bigger and all genres are covered these days; action, horror, science fiction, crime thrillers, super heroes, you name it television has it. Due to how successful television has become there is no longer that stigma for actors starring in them, in fact appearing in shows can actually boost their movie careers and profile. Look at Kiefer Sutherland for example when it was first announced that he was heading up a Fox show people thought that would be the last they saw of him. 24 though saw Kiefer skyrocket back into the public eye and he will now forever be remembered as Jack Bauer.
Clearly hoping to repeat this kind of resurgence is everyone’s favourite dude Keanu Reeves. The last few years have seen the BILL AND TED star almost disappear, his most high profile coming last December with 47 RONIN, a film that didn’t really set the box office on fire. We at THN have a little soft spot for the actor who helped reinvent the action hero with his role as Neo in THE MATRIX (can you believe that was released all the way back in the 90’s?), and even compiled a nifty little best and worst of feature which you can find here.
News has broken today that Reeves has signed on as producer and star in new television series Rain. The show is based on a series of books written by author Barry Eisler. The show will be the first project of new production company Slingshot Global Media which was set up in February. Company head David Ellender had the following to say about the new venture:
“We are extremely excited to be working on a beloved property with such a talented and hard-working actor as Keanu. This series will be the launch pad for the company and highlight our talent-focused, quality based approach within the ever-changing and expanding television space.”
The story of the show will be taken heavily from Eisler’s New York Times best-selling series of books. The books star John Rain, a half-Japanese, half American contract assassin whose specialty is making deaths look like natural causes. The character is described as an ‘outsider in whatever world he’s in’. For those wishing to swat up on the character before the show arrives the series of stories which include Rain are:
A Clean Kill In Tokyo, A Lonely Resurrection, Winner Take All, Redemption Games, Extremis, The Killer Ascendant, The Detachment and Graveyard of Memories.
It seems that Reeves is very happy to be embodying the character of Rain:
“As a huge fan of Barry’s work, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to bring his iconic character and incredible world to life.”
The show is being billed as a ‘globe-trotting action drama’ and we all know that Keanu can do action. As always we at THN will bring you more on the project as it develops.
Source: Deadline
