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Protagonist of The Matrix – Keanu Reeves – has made more money than any actor from any other franchise in history.
The film star famously played the role of cybercriminal and computer programmer Neo (Thomas Anderson) in all four films.
And just incase our memories need a refresh, the film follows a future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside ‘the Matrix’ – a simulated reality that intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source.
When Neo finally uncovers the truth, he joins a rebellion against the machines along with other people who have been freed from ‘the Matrix’.
Credit: Warner Bros
After bringing in a whopping $467.2 million at the Box office, with a budget of $63 million, it was clear that the first film (1999) took the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction to another level.
As a result, it seems that Keanu has been rewarded more generously for his role, than any other actor.
The 58-year-old reportedly came out ahead of the likes of Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. for Mission Impossible and Avengers respectively.
According to a ‘non-definitive list of actors who have received $30 million or more as compensation for their services in a single production’, Keanu’s total income for The Matrix franchise was a whopping $156,000,000.
Too many zeros to count.
In joint second place was Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise and Will Smith, who all reportedly brought in $100,000,000 of total income.
Credit: Warner Bros
Amid such a successful film career, everything could have completely gone to pot as Keanu was offered the possibility of taking up a crazy stage name early on in his career.
Ahead of the release of The Matrix Resurrections, Keanu told Good Morning America that he was once asked to take on a stage name because ‘Keanu’ was dubbed by some as ‘too ‘exotic’.
The 57-year-old explained: “So, I’m 20 years old, I’m in my first car, I wanted to be in movies, I went to Hollywood.
“And I get there and they’re like, ‘we wanna change your name’.”
When a young Keanu questioned the Hollywood people at the time, their response was that his name is ‘a little too exotic’.
Wanting to make a good impression, he then considered some alternatives.
Credit: ABC
After taking a deep breath, he gives interviewer Michael Strahan a name.
“Chuck Spadina,” the actor claimed was the stage name he almost adopted.
“I just came up with ridiculous names,” he added.
However, to the relief of many, he opted to stick with his real name.
Reeves admitted that he simply ‘couldn’t do it’.
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Keanu Reeves has revealed John Wick 4 is the ‘hardest movie’ he’s ever made.
That’s right, while the Canadian action star has made some of the most impressive flicks in the past, it looks like the upcoming and highly anticipated film put Reeves through the wringer.
Comicbook reported that while appearing in a post-panel discussion at Comic Con Experience 2022 in Brazil, the Matrix actor said: “John Wick 4 is the hardest movie I’ve ever made.
“In terms of action, it’s the hardest film I’ve ever made. But that’s what makes it good.”
The 58-year-old explained one of the more challenging scenes included a fight scene ‘in traffic’, which took place around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
He added that the upcoming flick would see Wick’s enemies emerge from every corner of the world.
Reeves said: “The table is this world above the world; and the people, the assassins, under the table are as boundless as the grains of sand on the beach.
“So there [are] a lot of people coming after John Wick.
“But really, for the John Wick film[s], it’s really just the invention of the scene, right? How can you do these scenes?”
Aside from Reeves, the film will also see the return of Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick.
Credit: Yuri Murakami/Fotoarena/Sipa USA/Alamy
Rina Sawayama, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, and Bill Skarsgård will also join the cast.
The official trailer only dropped a few weeks ago and teased some pretty epic battle sequences, including nightclub shootouts, high-speed motorbike chases and sword-wielding assassins.
As the trailer began making the rounds on the internet, fans were losing it, as one person commented: “This is one of those rare franchises that takes what it made from the first movie and just expands and expands without watering down anything. Over the top action, a decent story, and pure Keanu humbleness and finesse.”
Another wrote: “This movie gonna be masterpiece like the trailer and music.”
While a third person shared: “John Wick is one of the only franchises i can never get tired of, they always find a way to keep it fresh.”
John Wick 4 Director Chad Stahelsk recently sat down with IGN, teasing that Reeves even spent months nunchuck training, as he desperately wanted to add to Wick’s lethal skills.
He said: “Keanu does nunchucks in this movie, which you’ve seen in the trailer. Keanu spent months knocking himself out, getting good at nunchucks. Ambidextrous, right hand, left hand, while shooting a gun. F**king guy is great at it.”
Is there anything he can’t do?
Source: ladbible.com
