Keanu Reeves has forged a profound cinematic career. Best known for his acclaimed franchise John Wick, Reeves also has several hit titles under his belt which includes Jan de Bont’s 1994 movie Speed.
Following the success of the 1994 movie, a sequel was inevitable hoping that it would earn the studio big bucks. However, Reeves was not up for it and rejected the movie. He was offered a whopping $11 million paycheck but the narrative was beyond his understanding.
Keanu Reeves Rejected Speed 2
20th Century Studios was very keen on bringing the old cast back to a Speed sequel after the movie made over $350 million at the box office against the production budget of $30–37 million. When the studio approached Keanu Reeves for the sequel, the actor refused to appear in the movie. “It was a tough decision,” Reeves told Willie Geist on his Sunday Sitdown.
“I really had an amazing time filming and making Speed. It did pretty well so there was a ‘let’s do it again.’ Then I was doing a film at the time called Chain Reaction and I was in Chicago and I read the script. That film was pretty physical. It was a lot of running and cold. So they showed me the script and I just didn’t see it. I didn’t get it. So I couldn’t do it.”
It was indeed a debacle for Reeves and 20th Century Studios. Reeves’ reasoning for the refusal to appear in the film did not resonate with the studio.
Keanu Reeves Believed Fox Was Furious After His Speed 2 Rejection
Despite Reeves’ absence, Speed 2: Cruise Control rolled out at the studio. Only Sandra Bullock returned for the sequel while Reeves was replaced by Jason Patric in the 1997 movie. The sequel also starred Willem Dafoe. However, the movie failed to make a splash at the box office and also came to be a critical disaster. If Reeves had returned, it could have been a different picture altogether. Fox was not happy with Reeves’ refusal despite the astounding $11 million paycheck. As the actor believed, they have held a grudge for a while after that.
“I didn’t work at Fox for 15 years after that. I believe so, but I don’t know. It’s only a theory. I ended up working there again but it took 15 years,” Reeves told Geist.
Eventually, the actor was rehired by the studio for Scott Derrickson’s sci-fi thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still in 2008. But for Speed 2, many believed that Reeves’ absence was one of the reasons for the failure of the movie which also included poor narrative and performances. The movie collected $164.5 million worldwide against the production budget of $40–70 million.
