Summit Entertainment
There’s no denying that the Fast & Furious franchise is the most bonkers in Hollywood.
Between the purposefully comical action set pieces and the caricature cast of characters, Fast & Furious knows what they’re doing, and to their credit, they do it well.
While I’ve yet to see Hobbs & Shaw, from everything I’ve read, The Rock and Jason Statham starring spin-off continues to up the ante for the behemoth franchise. And according to The Rock himself, Hobbs & Shaw almost took another step towards full-blown insanity with one of their casting choices.
Warning: spoilers for Hobbs & Shaw will follow.
In Hobbs & Shaw, Luke Hobbs (The Rock) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) go to battle with Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a scientifically-enhanced super-soldier who parades himself around as “The Black Superman”.
Brixton got his super-soldier powers through Eteon, which is a techo-terrorist organization in the Fast & Furious-verse (?) led by a mysterious figure known as The Director.
And while The Director is only heard and never seen in Hobbs & Shaw, The Rock recently revealed that they almost were able to cast one of the world’s biggest action stars in the role.
Speaking to Screen Rant during the Hobbs & Shaw press junket, Johnson confirmed that none other than internet hero Keanu Reeves was originally in talks to play The Director but ultimately had to drop out due to “creativity” reasons:
“And then what we also did at the end was we left the ominous voice faceless. So, for some time, I think you guys have heard the rumor that it was going to be a bit of a John Wick, all disguised. But then we left it there [with] a few people in mind. Originally, Keanu was the goal. We were talking, and it just didn’t feel right creatively. …He and I talked, and I totally got it. And it wound up being the best thing, so now we leave that open for the future.” [via Screen Rant]
Sign me up. Cast Keanu Reeves in everything. Who says no?