MOVIE NEWS – Keanu Reeves is lining up another major action-thriller role, but this time he will not be slipping back into John Wick’s suit. The actor is set to star in and produce Kill Current: A Jon Hendricks Thriller, an adaptation of the first novel in a planned military and geopolitical thriller series that already appears designed with long-term franchise potential in mind.
Keanu Reeves is reuniting professionally with former Lionsgate film chief Erik Feig, and their history makes the new partnership easy to understand. Feig launched the Saudi-backed independent production company The Arena in October 2025 with the stated goal of creating new global franchises that can expand across different forms of media. During his years at Lionsgate, he had a front-row seat to the transformation of John Wick from a relatively modest action movie into a sprawling property with sequels, spin-offs, and television extensions. Kill Current clearly comes from a different creative world, but The Arena appears to be looking for similarly expandable potential.
Deadline reports that The Arena has acquired the screen rights to Oliver Lowe’s upcoming novel Kill Current: A Jon Hendricks Thriller. Reeves will headline the adaptation and produce alongside Alexandra Grant through Two Dragonflies, the production company the pair recently established together. Molly Stern and publisher Zando are attached as executive producers, while no director has yet been announced.
The project also carries personal significance for Reeves because it will serve as the first production under the Two Dragonflies banner. “I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to develop the character Jon Hendricks with these wonderful collaborators, and this is the project that launches Two Dragonflies, which I share with my partner, Alexandra Grant,” he told Deadline. Grant described the adaptation as exactly the type of work the company was built to pursue, taking a property from the publishing world into film while assembling the creative partners needed to shape it along the way.
A Burned-Out CIA Officer Could Become Reeves’ Next Action Hero
Kill Current is the opening novel in Oliver Lowe’s planned thriller series, and the subtitle A Jon Hendricks Thriller already makes it clear that the character is intended to carry more than one story. Hendricks is a burned-out CIA officer dragged back into action after the death of a protégé he personally trained. His desire for revenge gradually pulls him into a globe-spanning political conspiracy, expanding the story far beyond a straightforward personal mission. Lowe’s premise also brings contemporary geopolitical pressure points into the genre, including semiconductors, international supply chains, technological warfare, and information warfare.
Zando founder and CEO Molly Stern believes those elements can give the book a more modern identity than a conventional military thriller. “Oliver Lowe’s masterful story, the first in his upcoming Jon Hendricks series, is poised to reinvent the geopolitical thriller for the modern era. Kill Current is rooted in the issues shaping today’s world – semiconductors, global supply chains, technological and information warfare. It delivers the fast-paced, globe-trotting read and complex, intriguing characters that thriller fans of any era crave.” The publisher is therefore positioning the novel as a bridge between old-school spy-thriller momentum and conflicts that feel distinctly contemporary.
Erik Feig has also made it clear that The Arena sees the property as something larger than a single movie. “This project further underlines our focus on launching high-concept IP for global audiences across different media. Keanu Reeves is a singular talent and synonymous with the kind of intelligent action franchises we are aiming to make. We are thrilled to work with him and Alexandra Grant.” The wording strongly suggests that the company is already thinking beyond the first adaptation if audiences respond to Jon Hendricks.
Could This Become Reeves’ Next Franchise After John Wick?
Reeves is an especially valuable anchor for that strategy. The original John Wick began as a relatively straightforward revenge movie before growing into a much larger mythology with its own characters, institutions, and interconnected stories. Kill Current does not need to imitate that formula directly to benefit from the same basic principle: a strongly defined protagonist who can sustain multiple installments. If Reeves connects with Hendricks, the planned book series already provides a natural supply of future material.
The bigger question is whether audiences are becoming saturated with ex-soldiers, intelligence veterans, and international conspiracies. MovieWeb points to the disappointing theatrical performance of Jason Statham’s Mutiny as one possible sign that a recognizable action star and familiar genre ingredients are no longer guaranteed to generate a hit. Kill Current has several potential ways to stand apart, however, including Reeves’ involvement, its geopolitical focus, its interest in current technological conflicts, and source material conceived from the beginning as an ongoing series. Reeves serving as producer as well as star could also give him more influence over how Hendricks is shaped for the screen.
The novel is scheduled to be published by Zando in May 2027, while the movie does not yet have a director or release date. Development is therefore still at an early stage, and it will be some time before anyone can know whether the project truly has franchise legs. What is already evident is that Reeves and his collaborators are not treating this as just another isolated action role. If Kill Current connects with audiences, Jon Hendricks could become his next long-term action protagonist after John Wick.
Source: MovieWeb
