Keanu Reeves and a cat? Shut up and take our money.
Last year the trailer for Keanu was released and it pointed to being a lot of fun. The film which stars comedians Key and Peele follows the escapades of two friends as they try to rescue their beloved pet cat, Keanu.
With a name like that it could have only been named after one person, and many may have been disappointed when they watched the trailer to realise that ‘the one’ wasn’t actually in it. But now that has all changed as Keanu Reeves has joined the production. In a recent interview director Peter Atencio shared that, whilst they were initially wary of approaching the action icon, they eventually gave in and contacted his people. Sadly it seemed that they weren’t in on the joke and politely declined on the actor’s behalf. That soon changed however after the release of the trailer due to Reeves’ sister sharing the video with her brother. The call from Reeves soon followed.
“But then we got a call after the trailer came out — apparently, his sister showed him the trailer and said, ‘Hey, you gotta see this. You’re gonna love this!’ He flipped out and got in touch with us directly to say ‘If there’s anything I can do, let’s make this work.'”
Of course by the time that a trailer is released a film is, most of the time, near completion, but it isn’t everyday that one of Hollywood’s greatest calls you so the team made it work. To get the John Wick actor into the film they expanded a scene where the cat guides our leads through a hairy drug trip.
It was a dream come true for Atencio as the cat and movie were obviously named after Reeves. He did also add that they never expected him to become involved, but it’s pretty cool that he is.
“as an act of love for his movies, and especially the kind of movies that he makes, Keanu doesn’t try to make a big deal out of the connection. We didn’t want it to be something where you’re just kind of waiting for the big Keanu payoff, which is why it’s cool that he’s involved in this way — it’s a subtle way of acknowledging that of course he’s the direct inspiration for that name.”
Comedy, action, cats and Keanu, sign us up!
Keanu opens in US cinemas on Friday 29th April with a UK date still to be confirmed.
