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SPEED KILLS

By Jodi SCURFIELD

HANNIBAL MEDIA - as SALES All rights

Crime - Completed 2018

The action-packed, sexy true story of Ben Aronoff, the larger-than-life speedboat champion and multimillionaire whose mysterious murder shocked the world in 1987.

- Year of production
- 2018
- Genres
- Crime, Thriller
- Countries
- USA
- Budget
- 10 - 25 M$
- Duration
- 101 mn
- Director(s)
- Jodi SCURFIELD
- Cast
- John TRAVOLTA, Katheryn WINNICK, Kellan LUTZ, Jordi MOLLA', Amaury NOLASCO, Matthew MODINE
- Synopsis
- In the middle of a typically brutal New Jersey winter, millionaire construction magnate Ben Aronoff (John Travolta suddenly relocates his wife Kathy (Jennifer Esposito) and kids to Miami Beach. He leaves behind his profitable business, a stunning antique car collection, and his very home, desperate for a fresh start.
  
  Once in Miami, he tries to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He has connections…shady connections…mob connections. But he wants to succeed on his own without their muscle behind him. He immediately falls in love with powerboat racing and purchases a boat. He hires a throttle man and enters the prestigious Miami to Nassau Race – and damn near wins it, but his boat overheats and strands him in the middle of the ocean.
  
  Once bitten by the bug, Aronoff sets out to construct the perfect powerboat and to become a champion racer. His first company, Formula Marine, introduced innovations to the speedboat that becomes standard. He quickly builds up the value of the company and sells it for millions. He founds Magnum Marine in 1966. The following year, he wins his first championship. But he pours so much capital into racing that he was unable to keep up. So he places a call to his mob benefactor, the notorious Meyer Lansky.
  
  With Meyer as a partner, Aronoff becomes a respected earner for the mob. His Cigarette boat and racing become iconic brands. He develops a rivalry with Meyer’s nephew Robbie Reemer, a hot-head marijuana trafficker. Aronoff makes more money than he can spend, but grows tired of being the mob’s errand boy. His womanizing drives his wife away, and he marries Emily (Katheryn Winnick), a smart and gorgeous blueblood, whose background gives him the instant status upgrade he craves.
  
  His boats, racing exploits and gregarious personality make him famous. He sells boats to everyone from The Beatles to George HW Bush (Matthew Modine). In Bush he sees an opportunity to go completely legit, to free himself from servitude to the mob. When Bush becomes Vice President, he negotiates for Aronoff to provide boats to the customs service and the DEA for use in the war on drugs. But Reemer forces Aronoff to turn the company over to him.
  
  Fed up, Aronoff vows to fight back. But soon, he finds himself in the midst of a money-laundering investigation involving Remeer and the entire mob. Meyer’s hired goon, Jules (Jordi Mollá) makes it very clear that Aronoff can’t fight back or walk away. They own him. Meanwhile, his name comes up in a DEA investigation being run by Agent Lopez (Amaury Nolasco).
  
  With the walls closing in around him, Aronoff realizes that a forthcoming subpoena may be the only thing that saves his life.
  
  Speed Kills is a sexy, fast paced true story of a true original, Don Aronoff, played by John Travolta in a career-defining performance.