Ben Aronoff Wikipedia (2024)

FAQs

Is Ben Aronoff based on a true story? ›

It is based on Arthur J. Harris's book of the same name about the life of Donald Aronow, fictionalized as "Ben Aronoff".

'Speed Kills' the film loosely based on the life of Don Aronow ('Ben Aronoff' in the movie) has been released on Netflix US. American Don Aronow was a designer, builder and racer of speedboats. He launched Magnum Marine in Florida in 1966 and created the Cigarette, Donzi, Formula and Cary speedboats.

Speed Kills (2018) - IMDb.

15 million USD

Speed Kills / Budget

On February 3, 1987, Aronow was murdered in his car at the end of 188th Street in North Miami Beach, where his boat companies operated.

Standing 6-foot-3, with Hollywood good looks, Aronow was the creator of a string of famous boat companies including Cigarette, Magnum, Donzi, and Formula. He was the swashbuckling embodiment of offshore racing in its earliest and most glorious years.

Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease, which are among the leading causes of death in the United States. Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease. Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower.

Cigarette Racing's reputation as the market's premier powerboat builder is rooted in boating history where performance made its early run for glory. From its inception in 1969 to Aronow's death in 1987, the company grew in size and reputation, based on the hard-driving, fast-lane living of its founder.

Plot. In 1943, United States Navy sailors David Herdeg and Jim Parker serve aboard destroyer escort USS Eldridge, docked in Philadelphia. Doctor James Longstreet and his team conduct an experiment to render the ship invisible to radar, but a malfunction causes the ship to disappear.

1. “Speed” was simply too costly to score a hit with its target audience. The $120-million movie came with a four-quadrant budget but only a half-pint demographic. “It's in a niche … a small niche,” a former Warner exec says.

Is Speed Kills worth watching? ›

Critics Reviews

What's not to like? Well, everything -- unless you're the star, who seems convinced that this embarrassingly cloddish biopic-slash-thriller actually flatters both him and its subject. Content collapsed. I can't recommend Speed Kills to anyone because it's not even good enough to gawk at.

Reeves was offered $12 million to reprise his role as Jack Traven, but turned it down because he did not like the script, was financially secure from the success of Speed, and felt he was not "ready to mentally and physically" star in another action film after having completed Chain Reaction (1996).

Kramer, at the time reigning U.S. open class offshore powerboat champion, was arrested four months after the Don Aronow killing and sentenced to life in prison as a “drug super kingpin”. He was later charged with the murder of Don Aronow…

Cigarette is now moving into a new chapter with its recent purchase by John H. Ruiz, a Miami attorney and Ophir Sternberg, owner of private investment firm Lionheart Capital.

Custom Marine Group (CMG), a new partnership formed by the Ross and Wortley families, has purchased Baja Marine LLC, taking over ownership of Baja Marine, Fountain Powerboats, Donzi Marine and Pro-Line Boats.

Another Hollywood production is coming to Puerto Rico. The new John Travolta-led film, Speed Kills, will be filming on the island, according to Governor Ricardo Rossello.