Black Water Transit (lost crime drama movie based on Carsten Stroud novel; 2009)

Film poster.

Status: Lost

Black Water Transit is a 2009 crime drama film based on a Carsten Stroud novel of the same name. It is directed by Tony Kaye and stars an ensemble cast including Laurence Fishburne and Karl Urban with no date for official release^[1].

Premise

In post-Katrina New Orleans, shipping executive Jack Vermillion (Fishburne) finds himself getting more than he bargained for after agreeing to help feds expose smuggler and all-around bad seed Earl Pike (Urban)^[2].

Production

Doug Richardson had written the initial draft and claimed that it was one of the best he had ever written, he was on development for two years until he was let go although one of the producers wanted to bring him back on board. When Richardson met Tony Kaye in person, he turned down the offer to return, referring to Kaye as a "lunatic".^[3] Filming took place in and around New Orleans between June and August 2007. Filming locations included the French Quarter, the 9th Ward and local military installations.^[2]

Availability

The movie has been thru development hell for more than a decade by now. Starting its signals when the movie had its exhibition cut from the Cannes Film Market back in May 2009^[4], going all the way until the penalty of 8 years of imprisonment for Bergstein, the movie producer, for defrauding investors for over $26 million in 2018^[5]. As of 2023, the film hasn't been given a public release and is entirely unlikely to be seen as it is publicly unavailable.