Replicas, Keanu Reeves’ New Science Fiction Thriller, Released It’s First Trailer and a Release Date!

Keanu Reeves, aka Neo, aka John Wick, aka Constantine, aka the conspiracy theory meme we all know and love, can now be enjoyed in trailer format. That’s right, Replicas, the sci-fi thriller directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and written by Chad St. John has released its first trailer, and it’s… Well, just look. ﻿

The critics are excited, but not exactly in the way that Keanu probably hopes. In the words of Ars Technica writer Annalee Newitz,

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that is so resoundingly terrible that it achieves perfection. It doesn’t just have a lame twist, awful acting, or some kind of cheesy technology. [Replicas] has everything.

Take that how you will, but I personally agree with Miss Newitz. With the jarring jump cuts and flashes in the beginning, the all-too-familiar scenes of a naked woman waking up covered in goo or someone being pierced in the eye with a needle, super attractive blonde girls, and hastily scribbled math formulas, I think we’re in for a wild ride.

Luckily for us, we don’t have to wait too much longer. The release date is set as June 15th, 2018, as announced by Entertainment Studios. So buckle up boys and girls, and get ready for Keanu as you’ve probably seen him before- glaring dramatically and taking everything super seriously.

UPDATE 8-23-2016: No release date has been set for sci-fi thriller Replicas.

Every so often, I remember that Keanu Reeves has another sci-fi movie coming out, and I do a little searching to see if there are any updates on Replicas. And it’s been quiet for a while. However, I’ve just found that I missed an update, included as a short line in a Variety piece on Lotus Entertainment at the end of November. So, here’s the update:

“Lotus recently wrapped production with Keanu Reeves vehicle Replicas.”

There was no other information supplied, like a potential release date or word on an upcoming trailer. We’ve reached out to Lotus to see if we can get an update, but it’s nice to know the production’s wrapped, and the movie’s in post-production.

ORIGINAL POST 8-23-16: Sci-Fi Thriller Replicas is Not Only Happening, It’s Already Shooting!

All the way back in October of 2014, it was announced that Keanu Reeves was coming onboard the Replicas movie project, an indie sci-fi thriller. The movie was being produced Lotus Pictures and Di Bonaventura Pictures (Lorenzo Di Bonaventura’s production company, notable because he was a producer of Constantine and head of production at Warner Bros. when they produced the Matrix trilogy), with a script by Chad St. John and Tanya Wexler directing.

Then, the project sort of disappeared off the radar, seemingly just another stalled project. But whatever issues may have needed to be sorted out appear to have been sorted out, and things got moving again this year. First, in May of this year, it was revealed that Jeffrey Nachmanoff (best known as the writer / director of Traitor) would be directing, and then in July it was announced first that Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) had joined the cast opposite Reeves in the role of his wife. This was followed shortly after by more casting news, with Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch joining up in an unspecified role. Now, it’s been revealed that not only is the movie currently shooting in Puerto Rico (and has been since August 10th), two additional companies (Riverstone Pictures and Remstar Studios) have come onboard to help finance the Replicas movie. (Maybe financing was the thing holding the movie up?)

So, What’s the Replicas Movie About?

Reeves plays Will Foster, a scientist (described alternately as a ‘neuroscientist’ and ‘synthetic biologist’) who loses his wife Mona (played by Eve) and children in a tragic car accident. According to the official IMDB synopsis, he “will stop at nothing to bring them back, even if it means pitting himself against a government-controlled laboratory, a police task force and the physical laws of science.” Other sources indicate that he brings them back through cloning, and then has to protect them from “a ruthless corporation discovers their existence and calls for their destruction.” And when the project was first announced, di Bonaventura described it as a “unique take on what lengths a person will go to alter the past and the implications of those actions.”

Which definitely sounds like it could be an interesting premise. Traitor was a solid movie, and Keanu Reeves, despite enduring more than his fair share of “Whoa-s,” remains an engaging actor.

So Why Does It Take Four Companies to Produce?

Well, actually, according to the most recent Variety report, there are now five companies involved in producing the movie, with Blue Rider joining the previous four companies mentioned. And here’s (to the best of my understanding) the breakdown in producing duties: Lotus Entertainment is handling worldwide sales, including selling Replicas at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival next month; Riverstone, Remstar, and Di Bonaventura Pictures will be co-financing the film; and Blue Rider is handling the local financing of the movie in Puerto Rico.

Having a long list of production companies to share the different costs associated with making a movie isn’t a new thing, though it’s become more common recently. Common enough that Family Guy poked a number of years ago.

So, what do you think? Does the Replicas movie sound interesting to you?