Keanu Reeves, one of the world's most adored actors and star of the John Wick and The Matrix franchises, in in talks to star in a leading role in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming series, The Devil in the White City.
The Devil in the White City is becoming a Hulu series... / Picture Credit: Erik Larson
The forthcoming show, which will be made for streaming service Hulu, is based on the novel of the same name, written by Erik Larson and published in 2003.
The narrative sees two men - Henry H. Holmes (a serial killer) and Daniel H. Burnham (an architect) - and their lives become entangled at 1893’s Chicago World’s Fair.
Interestingly enough, an adaptation for this novel has been in the works for many years, after iconic Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, Catch Me If You Can, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) bought the rights to the novel in 2010.
DiCaprio had first planned for The Devil in the White City to become a feature film with long-time colleague Scorsese directing. Nothing was heard in regard to this project for quite some time, until Hulu’s 2019 announcement that they now have plans to turn to novel into a series; DiCaprio and Scorsese will both be in executive producing roles.
Via Deadline, we now know that Reeves is now in discussions to star in one of the series’ two leading roles. This marks the beloved actor’s first ever major role in a TV show, and also means that the project is gaining some significant momentum.
As of today (January 4th, 2022), it is unknown whether Reeves will play murderer H. H. Holmes, or visionary Daniel Burnham, but hopefully soon there will be confirmation regarding which role Reeves will take on, if he does indeed sign up for the project.
Reeves’ consideration about which role to play is a huge win for the streaming service, as the actor is in very high demand at the moment; his recent film The Matrix: Resurrections has only just released (on December 22nd, 2021), and has just finished filming John Wick 4.
So, in that respect, Hulu has done rather well to bag Reeves before another big project claims him, if indeed the deal goes through.
Despite the casting for The Devil in the White City not being finalised yet, it will be interesting (to say the least) to see Reeves in this kind of project, and especially since it’s his first big-time TV series.
Whether Reeves portrays Holmes or Burnham, it is already clear that he will bring his A-game to the show, and throw himself into whichever role he may decide to play in The Devil in the White City.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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Tagged in Leonardo DiCaprio Martin Scorsese Keanu Reeves