Lionsgate
With Keanu Reeves perhaps winding down the John Wick franchise, the beloved action star is likely on the lookout for his next big thing.
In addition to another appearance as Baba Yaga in the upcoming John Wick spinoff Ballerina, Reeves is currently signed on to star alongside Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari in the latter’s feature film debut, and alongside Jonah Hill in the actor/director’s next project. While exciting, neither of those projects can be classified as blockbusters, though.
On that side of his career, the last year has seen reports that Reeves will star in a sequel to 2005’s cult hit Constantine and was adapting his BRZRKR graphic novel into a film at Netflix. Since then, though, it’s been rather quiet on those fronts.
Apparently, Reeves also considered joining the Fast & Furious franchise, at least according to Reacher star Alan Ritchson, who says that he ultimately landed the part that Keanu was in talks for.
“It was just a little stroke of luck and good timing,” Ritchson told Entertainment Weekly about getting the role.
“I was working on a movie with Hilary Swank up in Winnipeg in the freezing cold, and I got a call that things had shifted in the plans with Keanu Reeves, which is I think who was originally intended to play my part. Tough act to follow.”
While seeing Keanu — who is one of the most self-aware actors in Hollywood (just see his role in Always Be My Maybe — pop up in Fast X would’ve undoubtedly been entertaining in the micro, in the macro, most fans of the iconic action star are probably glad he stayed away from that franchise, which is basically the exact opposite of John Wick (grounded and cool versus unrealistic and silly).
Fast X, which stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Ritchson, Daniela Melchior, Scott Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Rita Moreno, and Ritchson, is currently playing in theaters.