Keanu Reeves Teases A Surprise Return To Abandoned Franchise
While no one expected that Keanu Reeves would ever return for another sequel, his experiences have changed his mind over the years.
Keanu Reeves says that he could return for a hypothetical Speed 3 movie. The actor was attending the red carpet premiere for The Matrix: Resurrections in San Francisco, where he was asked about the 1994 film. Speaking to Extra, Reeves made a joke about having been absent for the sequel. Then he compared a Speed revival to his return as Neo. “I can’t say never because I’m standing here for Matrix Resurrections and at the end of the trilogy I did die. So you can’t say never.”
Bringing back Keanu Reeves for a third Speed movie wouldn’t be as tricky as resurrecting Neo for the new Matrix movie. The last time we saw Officer Jack Traven he was alive and well, after successfully rescuing everyone from an exploding bus. The action star was supposed to return for Speed 2: Cruise Control alongside his Sandra Bullock, but he changed his mind after reading the script.
Directed by Jan de Bont from a script by Graham Yost, Speed followed Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as a SWAT officer and passenger who need to keep their bus at above 50 miles per hour. If they don’t the bomb it’s been rigged with will explode. The film also featured the acting talents of Dennis Hopper, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels. Speed was a massive hit with critics who praised the outstanding performances from Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock. It was also a box office success, grossing an impressive $350.5 million worldwide – well above its $30–37 million production budget. The film also earned Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound.
Speed’s success prompted a sequel to quickly go into development. A few years later, Speed 2: Cruise Control was released but unlike its predecessor, the film is infamously known as one of the worst sequels of all time. Although a lot of fans were disappointed by Keanu Reeves’ decision to pass on the movie, in the end he made the right choice.
Since Speed 3 is still just a pipedream, Keanu Reeves fans can catch him in The Matrix: Resurrections. Announced in August 2019, the film is co-written, directed, and produced by Lana Wachowski, who worked on the three previous films with her sister Lilly. For the new film, Lana shares scriptwriting duties with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. The project also has Warner Bros. partnering with Village Roadshow once more.
The Matrix: Resurrections sees stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprising their roles as Neo and Trinity respectively. The film also stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Daniel Bernhardt, Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Christina Ricci, Eréndira Ibarra, and more.
Set 20 years after the events of The Matrix Revolutions, Neo (Keanu Reeves) is living a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas A. Anderson in San Francisco where his therapist prescribes him blue pills. Neither he nor Trinity recognizes each other. However, Morpheus offers him the red pill and reopens his mind to the world of the Matrix, which has become more secure and dangerous in the years since the Smith infection. The Matrix: Resurrections is currently showing in theaters and on HBO Max.
