Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock Want Sequel to One of Their Most Popular Movies
During a joint interview, Bullock and Reeves expressed a strong desire to reunite for a sequel to one of their most beloved '90s hits.
Keanu Reeves announced during a joint interview with Sandra Bullock on the 50MPH podcast (via Variety) that he wants them to reunite for Speed 3. The podcast explores the making of Speed, Jan de Bont’s 1994 action-thriller about a bomb-strapped bus that will explode if it dips below 50 MPH.
Reeves and Bullock starred together in Speed, but Reeves was replaced by Jason Patric in the critically derided sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control. Speaking to 50MPH, Reeves expressed a desire to come back to finish the franchise on a strong note.
“I mean, you know—we’d freakin’ knock it out of the park,” he told Bullock. “It does feel like there is a siren call to it, like there’s something that wasn’t done. I would love to work with you again before our eyes close.”
Bullock responded: “Before I die, before I leave this planet, I do think that Keanu and I need to do something in front of the camera. Are we, you know, in wheelchairs or with walkers? Maybe. Are we on little scooters at Disneyland?”
Despite Bullock and de Bont reprising their roles in the franchise, Reeves infamously didn’t return for Speed 2. He didn’t agree with the sequel’s direction, which moved the action from a speeding bus to a glacial cruise ship.
“At the time, I didn’t respond to the script,” the John Wick star told Graham Norton in 2021. “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.”
In 2022, Bullock told TooFab that she’s “still embarrassed I was in” Speed 2. That movie grossed less than $165 million worldwide against the first picture’s $350M worldwide gross.
On 50MPH, Bullock and Reeves agreed that the original Speed worked because of the chemistry they shared.
“We had an affection. And the characters themselves have an affection,” Reeves recalled. “I think we played off each other and I think it was just fun.”
Bullock agreed: “We didn’t really look at each other in this movie except for maybe three or four times, because we were constantly battling the elements. And I think that’s what made it so electric, too, is that, watching it, I guess you want them to connect. That was a really clever setup, to sort of keep people apart. Foreplay, I guess.”
Reeves and Bullock went on to star together in 2006’s time-traveling melodrama The Lake House, which arguably failed to make use of the stars’ chemistry, as they’re apart for most of the narrative.
Speed (1994) and Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) are streaming on Starz, and available to rent on Amazon Prime Video. You can listen to Reeves and Bullock’s full 50MPH interview here.