Keanu Reeves' refusal to take part in 'Speed ​​2' landed him in movie prison for a decade

Keanu Reeves was already a star in the early 1990s Bill & Ted films and Point break, but in 1994 he became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. This was because of a little film with the title speed, which grossed $121 million on a budget of $30 million, the seventh-biggest box office hit of the year. It wasn't just the great action about a bus that explodes when traveling less than 50 miles per hour that fans loved, but also Reeves' charisma as the lead and his steamy chemistry with his co-star Sandra Bullock. With speed Since it was such a success, it would only be a matter of time before there was a sequel. That day finally came in 1997 Speed ​​2: Cruise controlwhere a bus was replaced by a huge cruise ship. Sandra Bullock returned, as did director Jan de Bont, but Keanu Reeves was nowhere to be found. That's because he said no, a smart move if you've seen the movie, but also one that almost ruined his career.

Speed ​​2: Cruise control

A computer hacker breaks into the computer system of the Seabourn Legend cruise ship, putting it on a collision course with a massive oil tanker.

Release date

June 13, 1997

writer

Graham Yost, Jan de Bont, Randall McCormick, Jeff Nathanson

Duration

121

Why Keanu Reeves Rejected 'Speed ​​2'

After speed, Keanu Reeves was on top of the world, but he quickly realized he couldn't recreate that magic right away. The next few years saw him in films like Johnny Mnemonic, A walk in the cloudsAnd Feel Minnesota, none of which were particularly well received by critics or audiences. He needed something big to right his ship (pun intended), and there it was, a sequel to speed called Speed ​​2: Cruise control. The plot would involve Jack Traven (Reeves) and Annie Porter (Bullock), who are now vacationing as a couple on a cruise ship in the Caribbeanbut unfortunately there's no time to rest as they encounter another madman who hacks the ship's controls and programs it to head straight for a collision with an oil tanker.

If you think the idea sounds silly, you're not the only one. Although original director Jan de Bont returned and was destined for another blockbuster success, TwisterSandra Bullock originally insisted before deciding that the $11 million check would help her with financing Hope floats. For Keanu Reeves, who hit the road, his mind wouldn't change The Devil's Advocate with Al Pacino And Charlize Theron, a success that put his path to megastardom back on track. However, that wasn't the only reason he said no, as everything was overridden by the simple fact that he didn't like the script.

In an interview with Jimmy KimmelReeves told the host:

“I loved working with [director] Jan de Bont and Sandra of course. It was just a situation in life where I got the script, read it and thought, “Ugh.” It was about a cruise ship and I thought, “A bus, a cruise ship…”
speed
bus, but then a cruise ship is even slower than a bus and I thought, “I love you, but I just can't do it.” ”

“Speed ​​2: Cruise Control” is one of the worst sequels of all time

Despite the return of director Jan de Bont and Sandra Bullock Speed ​​2: Cruise control is one of the worst sequels of all time. It was a dud at the box office, grossing just $48 million against an insane $160 million budget. Blowing up ships isn't cheap! Critics were no kinder Speed ​​2sits at a disastrous 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yikes. It turned out that summer cinema audiences are not as gullible as they are treated. We may love our sequels, but they have to mean something. It is not just speed's clever plot that drove us crazy and made the film an instant action classic, but the chemistry between Reeves and Bullock. Since Keanu Reeves wasn't involved, one of our reasons for watching was eliminated. If he was out, why should we be in?

Keanu Reeves is irreplaceable, though Speed ​​2 I tried it anyway. LAPD cop Jack Traven gave way to LAPD cop Alex Shaw, played byJason Patrick, a good actor but not a megastar like Reeves. Whatever Reeves would do was instead simply given to Patric, who became Annie's boyfriend, with Jack Traven written down in a few lines of dialogue. What?! You mean we experienced all the heat with Jack and Annie speed just for them to break up?! It didn't make any sense. We wanted to see Annie and Jack, not Annie and Alex. Still, it's what we have, and maybe Speed ​​2 could have made this new relationship work, but everything about Succession falls flat.

Willem Dafoe is an acting genius, but his role as Speed ​​2John Geiger's villain gave us a wide-eyed parody of a villain which wasn't nearly as scary as Dennis Hopper's mad bomber, Howard Payne. Speed ​​2 is nothing more than action scene after action scene, which is fine if there is meaning behind it, but it feels like a cover-up for the lack of interesting plot and memorable characters. We don't want the bus in speed to explode because we care about every single character, not just Jack and Annie. Speed ​​2 We forget that, so we blow the cruise ship into pieces. Even Annie is somehow wrong Speed ​​2. Instead of being funny and charming, she's shockingly annoying and unlikeable, with little to do other than whine and run away. Still, there is plenty of comedy, so much so that it tempers the tension somewhat. Speed ​​2: Cruise control is a lazy money grab, but the big problem is that it forgot to grab the money.

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Twentieth Century Fox wouldn't work with Keanu Reeves again for a decade

The idea of ​​an out-of-control cruise ship slowly moving across the ocean is certainly not exciting, nor is a speeding movie bus hitting every possible obstacle in downtown Los Angeles, and Reeves was smart enough to know that. He also admitted that the decision hurt his career, as he confessed in a 2019 interview with GQ His refusal resulted in Twentieth Century Fox putting him in “movie prison” for a decade. Reeves added: “I didn’t collaborate [Fox] again until [2008’s] The day the earth stood still.”

Since 20th Century Fox is one of Hollywood's top studios, this decision could have seriously damaged Reeves' career, which was perhaps just one more bad film away from displacing him in the leading-edge rankings. To the rescue came one of 20th Century Fox's biggest competitors, Warner Bros., where he played the role of Neo in a 1999 film called Neo The Matrixa role he wanted Will Smith I rejected it. The budget is $63 million, twice as much speedwas a big risk, but it was worth it The Matrix It earned a staggering $463 million worldwide and led to the creation of a franchise.

Reeves' stunt double-in The Matrix was a man named Chad Stahelskiwho also played the body double Brandon Lee In The crow after the actor tragically died during filming in a gun stunt that went wrong. The two became good friends and years later Keanu Reeves accepted a role in John Wick, he turned to his friend and asked him his thoughts. Stahelski eventually asked if he could direct the film himself, and the rest is history, as the former stuntman directed all four films in the series. One wonders about the chain of events that got Keanu Reeves to where he is today, the biggest action star in the world. Would The Matrix And John Wick would be the pop culture institutions they are now if he had given up and said yes Speed ​​2? Luckily we'll never know.

Speed ​​2: Cruise control is available to stream in the US on Starz

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