A BRZRKR movie based on the Keanu Reeves comic just got one step closer to reality with director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious series) attached to direct for Netflix.
Mattson Tomlin (Batman 2) wrote the script. Reeves, Boom Studios’ Stephen Christy, Company Films’ Stephen Hamel and Ross Richie are listed as producers.
BRZRKR started life as Kickstarter comic published by Boom! studios, with a story by Reeves and Matt Kindt and art by Ron Garney. The Kickstarter raised $1.4 million, and the first issue sold more than 600,000 copies, with more than 3.5 million copies of the entire series and collections sold. It’s also been adapted into a novel by China Mieville, and has a planned anime spinoff, as well as deluxe statues. It’s already come a long way, but until it’s a movie, no one will rest!
The story, described as gritty, involves B, an immortal warrior and an 80,000 year journey. “The man known only as B. is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, the BRZRKR may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else.”
Sounds about right for Lin, who has directed no fewer than five Fast & Furious films, as well as Star Trek Beyond. He’s been rumored to be attached to various comic book movies over the years – including a Tom Holland Spider-Man and One Punch Man – but this would be his first actual film in the genre. Reeves and Lin worked together on Lin’s indie film Last Days, which Reeves helped finance, so there’s a good connection there.
As we’ve noted before, many celebrities have launched comics projects before, but BRZRKR is by far the most successful – and might just be the first to make the jump to film. That’s a huge credit to how Boom has handled the project…and also Reeves commitment to it. Of course, there’s still a long journey to the Suggested For You screen on Netflix, but fingers crossed.
English (US) · 