Why Keanu Reeves Rejected ‘Speed 2’

Keanu Reeves is on the promotional trail for The Matrix Resurrections, opening up about returning to the franchise that has been dormant since 2003. However, while he was a guest on The Graham Norton Show, Reeves opened up about another movie where he chose not to return for the sequel: Speed.

Reeves and Sandra Bullock cemented their positions as movie stars after co-starring In the 1994 action flick. However, Reeves didn’t return to the 1997 sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, where he was replaced by Jason Patric. According to Reeves, it was a script issue. “At the time I didn’t respond to the script,” Reeves admitted. “I really wanted to work with Sandra Bullock, I loved playing Jack Traven, and I loved Speed, but an ocean liner? I had nothing against the artists involved, but at that time I had the feeling it just wasn’t right.”

However, that hesitancy wasn’t present when he was asked to return to The Matrix by director Lana Wachowski. “Hopefully people will enjoy it – it’s very exciting, and it was an extraordinary experience to make it,” Reeves said. Considering the fact that his character Neo died 18 years ago, Reeves definitely had questions.

“I had the same question – when the director asked me what I thought about doing another Matrix film,” Reeves explained. “I said ‘What? That sounds amazing but I’m dead.’ She was like, ‘Are you?’ and I said, ‘Do tell!’ She wrote a beautiful story, and I love playing the character. How I am alive will all be explained.”

This isn’t the only character that he’s spoken about returning to lately. In a recent interview on The Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert, Reeves admitted that he would love to play the DC anti-hero John Constantine again in a sequel to Constantine. However, It didn’t seem like his desire for a sequel would ever bear fruit. “I would love to play John Constantine again from Constantine,” Reeves told Colbert. “I’ve tried. I’ve tried, Stephen… Yeah, I would love to.” The Matrix Resurrections hits theaters and HBO Max on Dec. 22.