Deadline has learned that Harald Zwart has been tapped by Company Films and Fundamental Films, a leading Chinese production and distribution outfit, to direct Keanu Reeves in a racing flick titled RALLY CAR.
Zwart, who's previous directing credits include THE KARATE KID remake, ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOL'S and THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES, will be helming from a script by Jeremy Lott, based a treatment by Stephen Hamel. Reeves and Hamel will also produce through their Company Films banner. IM Global is dealing with the international sales of the movie, and will introduce it to buyers next week at Berlin’s European Film Market.
According to the site, RALLY CAR "centers on a hot shot former champion NASCAR driver (Reeves), who doesn’t want to believe his glory days are behind him. When his professional and personal life begin to spiral out of control, he’s forced to take part in a high stakes international rally race across the face of China, with a young Chinese girl as his co-driver, in order to prove he’s still the badass racer he thinks he is."
Although recent racing films such as RUSH and NEED FOR SPEED haven't done that well domestically at the box office, the latter ended up earning over $150 million in foreign markets, with $66 million of that coming from Chinese theaters. Who would you like to see star alongside Reeves as his rally car co-driver?
Reeves has a number of movies already in the can and several more on the way, which include JOHN WICK 2, Nicolas Winding Refn's THE NEON DEMON, and Ana Lily Amirpour's THE BAD BATCH.