Keanu Reeves Has Left His New Series
Keanu Reeves has exited The Devil in the White City.
In a crushing blow to fans who were looking forward to seeing Keanu Reeves finally make his small screen debut in The Devil in the White City, Deadline is reporting that The Matrix star has officially exited the project, which would have seen him in the role of a character named Daniel H. Burnham. The limited series is set to be another original offering for the popular streaming platform Hulu, which has been knocking it out of the park lately with recent high-profile releases including Prey and the David Bruckner-directed Hellraiser that serves as a re-imagining of Clive Barker’s 1987 horror classic of the same name. Reps for the streamer have declined to comment on Reeves’ departure, and there’s no word on who will replace him in the upcoming series.
Keanu Reeves was announced to star in The Devil in the White City just a couple of months back, which is why his exit comes as a bit of a surprise. With a handful of new projects in the works, it’s possible the actor’s demanding schedule prevented him from committing to the forthcoming series, which is currently in the pre-production stage. In addition to headlining the show, Reeves was attached to executive produce as well, and it has not been revealed whether he will still serve in that role.
The Devil in the White City is a true crime story centered on Daniel H. Burnham, an ambitious but visionary architect who strives to make his historical mark with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and America’s first modern serial killer, Dr. H. H. Holmes, who built the notorious “Murder Castle” hotel in the Fair’s shadow. Keanu Reeves was to appear as Burnham in the upcoming series, which is an adaptation of the 2003 book of the same name by author Erik Larson. The book won an Edgar Award for best fact-crime writing, and it was a finalist for a National Book Award.
Before Keanu Reeves was attached to star in The Devil in the White City, Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the motion picture rights to Larson’s book way back in 2010 and initially set it up as a film at Paramount with renowned director Martin Scorsese to direct. In 2019, Hulu revealed that it was developing the project as a big-budget limited series with DiCaprio and Scorsese serving as executive producers. Jennifer Davisson, Rick Yorn, Stacey Sher, Sam Shaw, Todd Field, and Mark Lafferty are also attached as executive producers for the upcoming show, with Stacey Sher on board as writer and showrunner and Todd Field directing.
Although the news of Keanu Reeves departing the upcoming television show is unfortunate, we can take solace in knowing the actor has plenty of other projects in the pipeline. Recently, he lent his voice to DC League of Super Pets alongside Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, and he wrapped filming on the forthcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, which is the latest installment in the brutal action franchise, with a fifth entry in the works as well. Reeves is also set to return as John Constantine in the recently announced Constantine 2, and he’s set to headline, and possibly direct, an adaptation of his own comic book series called BRZRKR.
