In 1997, following the success of the first film, “Speed 2: Heading for Danger” was released in cinemas. But Keanu Reeves decides not to return in this second installment, unlike Sandra Bullock. A decision she regrets today.
Speed: success for the 20th Century Fox
In 1994, filmmaker Jan de Bont directed Speed, a tense thriller worn by Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, and Jeff Daniels. At the time, this infernal bus story was met with great success. The feature film is named three times at the Oscars and leaves with the Best Sound and Best Sound Editing statuettes. Above all, the film brings in more than 350 million dollars in revenue for a budget of 30 million. An impressive gain that obviously pushed the 20th Century Fox to produce a second installment.
Thus, in 1997, Jan de Bont is back behind the camera to direct Speed 2: Heading for Danger. This time, the plot does not take place on a bus. But in a liner of which we will have to regain control. However, Keanu Reeves refuses to return for his role as Jack Traven. Unlike Sandra Bullock who is back in the skin of Annie Porter. The rest of the cast of this second opus is still made up of Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, and Temuera Morrison. Unfortunately, Speed 2 encounters disastrous returns. The film made a huge critical and financial flop with only $164 million in revenue for a budget of $160 million. Nothing to do with the first movie.
Sandra Bullock regrets her participation in the film
Speed 2: Heading for Danger is symptomatic of a useless following, existing only to make money. The production is obliged to change its hero, and to derive a concept that worked perfectly on a bus, but much less on a boat. Years later, while promoting the film The Secret of the Lost CitySandra Bullock returned, at the microphone of variety on his unfortunate participation in Speed 2. When the journalist asks her which film she wishes she had never made, she answers, unsurprisingly, the film by Jan de Bont:
There’s one that I always feel embarrassed to be in. It’s called Speed 2. It doesn’t make sense. A boat in slow motion, slowly moving towards an island. This is the one I wish I hadn’t done. And no fan has ever come to talk to me about it to my knowledge, except you.
The journalist from variety admitted to having watched a lot of Speed 2 in her youth. Like a kind of guilty pleasure. As for Keanu Reeves, he gave, last year, explanations for his absence in this sequel at the microphone of The Graham Norton Show :
At the time, I didn’t respond because of the script. I really wanted to work with Sandra Bullock again, I loved playing Jack Traven and I loved Speed, but a liner? I had nothing against the artists involved. But at the time, I felt like it just wasn’t a good idea.
We can say that the actor was right. Speed 2: Heading for Danger has, in addition to being a commercial failure, won the Razzie Award for the Worst Remake or sequel of the year. But no worries for Sandra Bullock, whose career was fortunately not buried afterward.
