Keanu Reeves Talks Future Projects

So there's this story going around from AintItCoolNews regarding an unconfirmed report of Keanu Reeves speaking as a guest of honor at the London School of Performing Arts University in England.  In it, the source states that Reeves was there promoting his new film, Henry's Crime, and talked to the class for a good 45 minutes, finishing up with a Q&A.

On the upcoming Japanese samurai film, 47 Ronin:

- Says he's prepping a action movie around the world of the samurai and that it will be a hard "R" rated 3D action feast that will deliver some great martial art set pieces. he's into 2 months of a 6 month training programme.

On the long in-development Bill and Ted 3:

- Spoke briefly about the possibility of Bill and Ted part 3 - ( Audience started laughing) but he assured us he's committed to the project.

On doing possible Parts 4 & 5 of The Matrix series:

- Says he met the Wachowski's (no emphasis on the word brothers), for lunch over Christmas and stated that they had completed work on a two picture script treatment that would see him return to the world of the matrix as Neo. Says the brothers have met with Jim Cameron to discuss the pro's and con's of 3D and are looking to deliver something which has never been seen again. keanu stated that he still has an obligation to the fans to deliver a movie worthy of the title "The Matrix" and he swears this time that the treatment will truly revolutionise the action genre like the first movie. Wachowski's are working on a movie called "Cloud Atlas" at the moment, once that concludes they will talk again.

On writers needing to be original and produce good, quality work (along with talking about the Wachowski's Hood):

- Keanu spoke about the need to encourage writers to continue to focus on working on new ideas and that a good script was worth its weight in gold. For example he said the Wachowski's had just sold the most expensive script in history to Warner Brothers. a modern futuristic take on the legend of "Robin Hood". Says he understands WB paid $5 million for the rights and that  from what the wachowski's have told him, it will be an action movie that would have the same impact visually and technically that Terminator 2 had. Confirmed that Will Smith has agreed ti headline the picture.

I must admit, as many people who knock Keanu Reeves for being a "wooden" actor, the guy is one of the few big-names in Hollywood who cares about putting quality work up on the screen.  His last few films for example (A Scanner Darkly, The Lake House, Street Kings, The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee, the upcoming Henry's Crime) weren't made to just get made; you could tell each had talented, passionate people working behind each project.  He's also one of the hardest working actors in the business (a six-month training regime for 47 Ronin?).  Who else does that?

More on this story as it develops as I'm sure confirmation is just around the corner.

Update on Mon, January 24, 2011 by John DiNicola

Sorry guys, apparently this whole story is built off of lies.  EW reports no such event took place in England and Keanu was not there.  Much apologies.