As anyone who has bought a ticket to one of his more recent movies can attest, all is not so gnarly in the world of Keanu Reeves these days.
Latest project of the “47 Ronin” star’s to hit break point – or is that point break!? – is “Passengers”, the space epic that would’ve teamed Reeves with Rachel McAdams and the Weinstein’s. Now both have dropped out, according to THR.
The Weinstein Company picked up the rights to the film at Cannes in 2013 – paying through their nose for it, too – and immediately skedded it for a plum April 3, 2015 release date. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has now backed out – leaving a blank line where the title use to lay on the distrib’s release schedule.
Bob and Harvey reportedly withdrew from the project once the film started experiencing hiccups, namely the departure of leading lady McAdams. Not wanting to get behind a ‘Keanu Reeves vehicle’ – no surprise, they don’t make money – the company cut the project loose.
Brian Kirk, an alumni of “Game of Thrones”, was expected to start shooting “Passengers” in Germany on April 7. The kick-off date has been pushed back for as long as it takes to find a new studio and leading lady.
“Passengers” has a terrific premise (“Reeves [stars] as a colonist aboard a spacecraft carrying 5,000 sleeping passengers to a new world. After accidentally awakening and becoming lonely, he rouses Aurora. Falling in love, they eventually realize it is up to them to save everyone on the journey”) but maybe what it needs is a bigger name to headline it. After the money that was lost on “47 Ronin”, it’s clear that 49-year-old Reeves hasn’t got the pull he had say, fifteen years ago. If The Weinstein’s can convince everyone to lose Reeves and bring in, say, Affleck or Damon (a couple of Weinstein-company staples) to play the colonist role, then it might have a better shot at doing something financially.
For the moment, it remains a Reeves project – one that may or may not happen.
http://moviehole.net/201474455keanus-passengers-loses-mcadams-weinsteins
