Keanu Reeves Gives Reddit An Update About Cowboy Bebop And Bill & Ted 3

By David Wharton | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

KeanuIs Keanu Reeves an immortal? There is a certain ineffable quality about him, a certain zen tranquility. So when someone directly asked him about his theoretical immortality, he responded in a very…well, a very “Keanu” way. “No,” he replied, “but energy cannot be created or destroyed they say.”

That was just one of many responses the actor delivered as part of an AMA — “ask me anything” — on Reddit last week. There were, as you’d likely expect, quite a few silly questions mixed with the usual generic celebrity queries (“Do you mind if people come up and say hi to you on the street?”), but he did specifically provide updates on two long-lingering projects: a live-action adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and a third installment in the beloved Bill & Ted series.

Sadly, for those of you holding out hope for a Keanu-led Bebop flick, the news is not good. Reeves said, “Cowboy Bebop does not look like it is going to happen with me in it. The script that was written was great and amazing, but it would cost like half a billion dollars to make it.” Keanu was first revealed to be attached to the Cowboy Bebop movie back in 2008, with him set to take on the lead role of Spike Spiegel. At the time it was targeting a 2011 release and had a script by Peter Craig (The Town). It had since languished in development hell, and there’s no word at the moment whether it might eventually spring back to live with different talent involved. On the upside, you’ll be able to get your Cowboy Bebop fix on Blu-ray next summer, courtesy of FUNimation.

The word on the Bill & Ted 3 front is more cheerful, but basically breaks down to the same we’ve heard several times in recent months: it’s still happening, but no word when we might see it. “There’s a script and we are trying to put it together,” says Reeves. Well, that’s at least non-heinous news.

He did however reminisce about working on the original Bill & Ted, and what he most liked about the role that, outside The Matrix, is still the one he’s most identified with.

Working on Bill & Ted was certainly an excellent adventure. I love those characters. I love the spirit of the film. I like the eternal goodness of these characters. I always thought of them as beautiful fools. They bring a wonder and naivete to the harsh realities of the world. I found them fun to play, and also working with Alex Winter was a great experience. We shared the same view of these characters and the film, and we had a lot of laughs making those movies. And Alex and I are friends.

Last month Alex Winter also provided a Bill & Ted update and explained that the biggest problem standing in the way of the sequel is that there’s no strong studio support behind it.

We’re at that point now where we’re waiting on another draft and we’re number-crunching and working on line production. It could not happen at all, honestly you just don’t know. But there’s a lot of people who want to make it happen. We have great producers, but until you’re on set, you just don’t know.

It’s been over two decades since the last Bill & Ted movie — 1991’s Bogus Journey — hit theaters, but that isn’t necessarily an insurmountable obstacle. Men in Black 3 did just fine, and there’s a new Dumb & Dumber movie coming out next year. All we can do in the meantime is keep our fingers crossed and be excellent to each other.

Finally, we’ll leave you with one last bit of Zen wisdom from Reeves: “It’s easy to stay grounded,” says the actor. “The ground is very close. And we walk on it every day.”