'Speed 3' could happen, says director Jan de Bont

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed (Credit: 20th Century Fox)
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed (Credit: 20th Century Fox)

Speed director Jan de Bont would be interested in making another sequel to the hit action film.

The Dutch director recently admitted as much to Collider, but he had a few stipulations, since he’s “not a huge fan [of] sequels.”

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First of all, his return would depend “on how the story is.” Secondly, they’d need to convince Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock to return in their leading roles, too.

“If you have to, you have to have the cast to want to come back too because, otherwise, you have to tell a whole new movie.”

Willem Dafoe, Jan de Bont, Sandra Bullock, & Jason Patric (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
Willem Dafoe, Jan de Bont, Sandra Bullock, & Jason Patric (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)

In 1994’s Speed, Reeves starred as LAPD SWAT bomb disposal officer Jack Traven, who looks to stop a bus from exploding after Dennis Hopper’s terrorist rigs it with a bomb that will arm once the vehicle goes over 50 miles per hour.

Bullock plays Annie Porter, one of the regular passengers on the bus, who has to take control of the vehicle after the driver has a heart attack. During this traumatic incident, Reeves and Bullock’s characters fall in love.

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However, while De Bont and Bullock returned for Speed 2: Cruise Control, Reeves wisely turned down the sequel. De Bont says that immediately hampered the follow-up, which grossed half of the original and was met with awful reviews.

Because some of the first one was so much centered around him and about him, the awkwardness a little bit in him being a hero. And that awkwardness of being in a position to be a hero is … That worked really well for him but it doesn’t work well for other actors. And it’s really hard to find that same kind of feeling back."

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