HBO is diving into the story behind one of Hollywood’s most famous marine stars. The network has officially greenlit a new docuseries centered on Keiko, the orca who captured hearts around the world in the 1993 hit film Free Willy.
Produced by All3Media’s Raw Television—the company behind acclaimed projects like Don’t Fck With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer* and Three Identical Strangers—the untitled docuseries will explore Keiko’s extraordinary and often controversial life journey that spanned Mexico, the U.S., Iceland, and Norway.
Becky Read (’Twas the Fight Before Christmas, Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin) is directing, with Maria Drovnenkova producing and Dimitri Doganis and Tom Sheahan executive producing. The series promises exclusive access to never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with those who worked closely with the orca throughout his life—from captivity to his highly publicized release back into the wild.
Keiko’s story began in 1979 when he was captured near Reyðarfjörður, Iceland, and sold to the Icelandic Aquarium. He later performed at Marineland in Ontario before being transferred to an amusement park in Mexico, where he eventually became the star of Free Willy. His journey from Hollywood fame to ocean freedom became a global phenomenon, culminating in his release in 2002 and his passing a year later.
While previous projects such as Theresa Demarest’s 2010 documentary Keiko: The Untold Story and The Good Whale podcast from The New York Times and Serial Productions have examined his life, HBO’s new series is expected to take a deeper, more nuanced look at the people, passion, and controversy surrounding Keiko’s legacy.
Director Becky Read shared, “I’m delighted to be partnering with HBO and Raw on this rich, complex story about our relationship to the natural world. I’m excited to bring some new voices to the screen to tell the story of Keiko’s life and chronicle a remarkable human endeavor by a group sometimes divided over the goal, but united by their good intentions.”