Deadline are reporting that Keanu Reeves has replaced Daniel Craig in the courtroom drama The Whole Truth. Craig had been cast as a defence attorney fighting to acquit a teenager standing accused of murdering his rich family. The British actor had unexpectedly departed the project in April just a few days before filming was due to begin, leaving producers high and dry.  Film-makers have spent the past two months searching for a replacement for Craig, eventually settling on Reeves.

Keanu Reeves The Whole TruthKeanu Reeves has replaced Daniel Craig in the courtroom drama The Whole Truth

Reeves will join the cast, which currently includes Renee Zellweger, Belle’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Kings of Summer actor Gabriel Basso. TheWrap has reported that The Wolf of Wall Street actor Kenneth Choi has been cast as the state prosecutor.

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The screenplay for The Whole Truth was written by Nicholas Kazan, well-known for writing the scripts for Matilda and Bicentennial Man, among other projects. In the director’s seat is Frozen River director Courtney Hunt.

Pre-production has now been scheduled for July in New Orleans, while Richard Suckle and Charles Roven, who were originally producing the project, are now executive producers. Shooting was initially set to take place in Boston, so the move to New Orleans has meant a slight rejig in the plot line. Instead of a Boston-based lawyer as in the original screenplay, Reeves will be playing a Southern lawyer.

Keanu Reeves The Whole TruthReeves played a defence attorney in the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate

This won’t be the first time that Keanu Reeves has taken on the role of a Southern defence attorney. In 1997 he starred as a hotshot lawyer alongside Charlize Theron and Al Pacino in mystery thriller movie The Devil’s Advocate.

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