Black Water Transit is an unreleased 2009 American crime drama film based on the novel of the same name by Carsten Stroud. It is directed by Tony Kaye and stars an ensemble cast including Laurence Fishburne and Karl Urban. 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). Cast Laurence Fishburne as Jack Vermillion Karl Urban as Earl Pike Brittany Snow as Sardoonah Aisha Tyler as Casey Spandau Stephen Dorff as Nicky Alex Sol as Jimmy Rock Beverly D'Angelo as Valeriana Schick Bill Cobbs as Frank Vermillion Evan Ross as Gary Vermillion Leslie Easterbrook as Bet Tannen At various points in the film's development, Bruce Willis, Vin Diesel, and Samuel L. Jackson were attached to star. Production Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin had initially produced the film under their Cheyenne Enterprises banner at Revolution Studios. Samuel Bayer was attached to direct in 2005. Doug Richardson had written the initial draft. In a blog post about his experience, he claimed that the screenplay was one of the best he had ever written, and he was on development for two years until he was let go. After Tony Kaye had signed on, one of the producers wanted to bring Richardson back on board. After meeting with Kaye in person, Richardson turned the offer to return down, referring to him as a "lunatic". 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. Post-production In August 2008, Kaye revealed to the Los Angeles Times that he had recently screened a rough-cut of the film to actor Laurence Fishburne. According to Kaye, his lead "loved" the film, which had originally been conceived as a Die Hard-like thriller. However, Kaye suggested his script changes were used as an excuse by producer David Bergstein to hold back payments on the film, and that Bergstein was attempting to alleviate his financial trouble by casting doubt on the film's bankability. On April 8, 2009, the production company came to an agreement with Cayman Islands-based financier Aramid Entertainment for the completion and release schedule for the film, which, at that point, remained unfinished. According to legal documents, Bergstein requested a sum of $1,775,000 for post-production. In May 2009, Kaye reportedly