Keanu Reeves Adds This Sci-Fi Thriller To His Already Full Genre Plate
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If you’re looking for something non-science fiction to watch in the movie theaters, we would like to wholeheartedly recommend John Wick to all of you. The Keanu Reeves-fronted revenge picture is totally badass and more fun than it has any right to be (with more than its fair share of biblical allusions as well, oddly enough). And while talk of Bill and Ted 3 continues, before that happens, if it ever materializes, Reeves is going to get his sci-fi ya-yas off. Not only is he working on the long gestating Passengers, but the Point Break star is working to develop and star in a promising genre joint called Replicas.
Whereas Passengers is more of a sci-fi love story, often compared to movies like The Time Traveller’s Wife and About Time—in fact, Rachel McAdams, who starred in both of those movies, was, and may still be, attached to star opposite Reeves—Replicas is more of a thriller. The idea is based on a treatment delivered by Reeves and Stephen Hamel, who produced John Wick and is also working on Passengers.
Reeves will play a neuroscientist (this is science fiction after all) whose family dies in a tragic car crash. Fueled by grief, he will stop at nothing to find a way to bring them back, “pitting himself against a government-controlled laboratory, a police task force, and the physical laws of science.” That sounds good to us, Keanu Reeves versus the government, the cops, and the very principles of nature.
Tanya Wexler, most known for directing the 2011 Maggie Gyllenhaal romance Hysteria, will helm the picture, working from a script by Chad St. John, whose only listed credit is the unofficial Punisher short Punisher: Dirty Laundry. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, his di Bonaventura Pictures, and Lotus Entertainment will handle the production. The super producer says:
From my experience working with Keanu on ‘The Matrix’ franchise through our collaboration on ‘Constantine,’ I have always been impressed by Keanu’s ability to bring a genuine level of humanity to the sci-fi genre through his performance. I am looking forward to collaborating with Keanu once again on this unique take on what lengths a person will go to alter the past, and the implications of those actions.
At the moment the plan is to find a buyer at the American Film Market, which runs from November 5 through 12, with an eye to start shooting next spring.
