Seven years later, Keanu Reeves is officially rebooting a $1 billion movie franchise
Keanu Reeves is diving into a live-action/animation mash-up spun from one of the 2010s' biggest animated franchises.
Here’s something you probably didn’t have on your 2024 bingo card: Keanu Reeves might be building a new role brick by brick—literally. Word is, Universal Pictures are in talks to get Reeves onboard for a completely new live-action LEGO movie. And no, this isn’t another pure animation job—they’re mixing live-action with animation this time round. No word yet if we’re about to get Reeves stomping through a stop-motion city, Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style, but honestly, I’d pay to see it.
The film’s got Josh Cooley locked in as director. That’s the same Josh Cooley who steered Toy Story 4 (which, by the way, still holds the title for the highest-grossing film in that franchise—at least until Toy Story 5 showed up and casually toppled opening weekend records). Reeves played Duke Caboom in that one. For those who’ve forgotten, Duke Caboom was that unashamedly Canadian toy daredevil—think Evel Knievel in a maple leaf cape—who had about five minutes of screen time and completely stole the show.
- Keanu Reeves is currently in negotiations with Universal Pictures for a live-action/animation hybrid LEGO movie.
- Josh Cooley, who directed Reeves in Toy Story 4, is officially attached to direct.
- Toy Story 4, Cooley’s blockbuster, remains the top earner of the series... except Toy Story 5 just knocked it aside in terms of opening weekend numbers.
- Deadline first reported the news, and right now, further plot specifics or casting rumours are still tightly under wraps.
What’s actually going on in this new LEGO film? At this point, your guess is as good as mine—Universal are keeping it very close to the chest. But the main takeaway here: Keanu Reeves and Josh Cooley’s working relationship is rolling over from sentient plastic action figures to sentient plastic bricks. Don’t blame me if you’re suddenly picturing Reeves doing some kind of John Wick routine surrounded by literal LEGO explosions.
The only other thing we know for now: big studios clearly aren’t done mining the LEGO universe for more cinematic weirdness, and Keanu Reeves is exactly the sort of unexpected choice that makes these projects worth keeping an eye on.