Keanu Reeves‘ comic book series BRZRKR is one step closer to getting a live-action adaptation. Netflix has lined up director Justin Lin to tackle the film, which will be written by The Batman Part 2 co-writer Mattson Tomlin.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reeves is still set to star in the movie and produce the film alongside Boom! Studios, Company Films, and Lin’s Perfect Storm production house. Since 2006, Lin has been closely associated with the Fast and Furious movies by directing five of the 10 films to date. Lin was even slated to direct a sixth film, Fast X, before he departed from the project over creative differences with series star Vin Diesel. Lin has also directed Star Trek Beyond and the upcoming indie film, Last Days, which was partially financed by Reeves.
Reeves created the BRZRKR comic and co-wrote the series, which was further refined by comic book scribe Matt Kindt and artist Ron Garney. The main character of the comic — whose likeness was drawn to resemble Reeves — is an immortal warrior known as B who has lived 80,000 years. B is half-human and half-god, and cursed with a drive for violence beyond any mortal man’s comprehension. In the present, B works for the U.S. government to tackle the most dangerous situations while searching for answers about his origin and for a way to end his eternal suffering.
The BRZRKR comic was one of the best-selling titles in years, with over 600,000 copies printed for the first issue alone on the strength of the series’ connection to Reeves. Through subsequent comics and reprints, Boom! Studios has reportedly sold over 3.5 million copies of the story worldwide.
Tomlin is also writing a BRZRKR anime series, which is still in production. It’s unclear if the BRZRKR film and the anime will tie into each other or if they will be separate adaptations of the same story.
