He's Ted. Neo. Constantine. John Wick. And now Keanu Reeves will play ... well, we still don't know his exact Toy Story 4 character, but we know he'll be small. That's a departure for Reeves, who has established a big presence on the big screen for decades now. Tim Allen announced Reeves' role in the 2019 Toy Story movie, and Reeves himself shared a little story on how he got the part:
I got a call, which was really cool, out the blue from the lovely people at Pixar and the creators of this number, this edition, or continuation of the story. They pitched the character to me, and then we spoke and they allowed me to kind of riff on it. I've done four recording sessions with them so far. It's been a lot of fun.
That "riff" line to Collider seems to echo what Tim Allen noted about Keanu Reeves saying the initial pitch on his character sounded too much like Allen's own Buzz Lightyear. Apparently Reeves' toy character does have an edge to him, but Allen said he's only "that big," meaning small, and so they "calmed him down a little bit." Some fans are speculating that Reeves could play a G.I. Joe action figure. We'll see.
Hopefully we get more details on the character as the May release date gets closer, along with specifics on how much Keanu Reeves contributed as he was riffing. Recording booth extras on the Blu-ray, please.
We know Keanu Reeves is not voicing the new character who debuted in the first teaser trailer. That conflicted spork character, Forky, is being voiced by Tony Hale. Forky does not believe he's really a toy, and apparently that leads to an existential crisis.
It looks like Toy Story 4 will be set at least in part at a carnival, based both on a poster, and that preview with Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele's characters, Ducky and Bunny, talking to Buzz and Woody (Tom Hanks) at a carnival booth. Here's what else we know about Toy Story 4 so far.
Right after it was announced that Keanu Reeves was cast in this movie, an enterprising artist made a mock Toy Story 4 character poster with Reeves' as John Wick. It was just too tempting.
Keanu Reeves is going to have a busy summer 2019. He'll be promoting both this movie -- with his still rather mysterious toy role -- which opens in theaters June 21, 2019, along with John Wick 3: Parabellum, which opens May 17, 2019.
John Wick's next chapter sounds extremely taxing for John (and Keanu Reeves with so many stunts) but it's not likely to work your emotions (unless something happens to another dog). But Toy Story 4 may leave you sobbing, based on how Tim Allen and Tom Hanks reacted to the ending. Here's what else is ahead on the cinema front in 2019.
