Keanu Reeves waited decades to be in a major animated movie, and its success was so great that only one upcoming movie can realistically beat it.
Keanu Reeves has plenty of massively successful movies at the box office, but it was his first animated movie that set a new precedent. Considering he rose to prominence thanks to a variety of action movie roles during the 90s, it is no surprise that most of Keanu Reeves’ biggest box office hits come from that genre. Whether it was the success of the original Matrix trilogy through the early 2000s or the massive popularity of the John Wick franchise during the 2010s and 2020s, there is plenty of evidence that audiences want to see Keanu in big action movies.
One area that viewers are not typically treated to in Keanu Reeves’ filmography is animated movies. The actor rarely lends only his voice to projects. Despite the animated look of 2006’s A Scanner Darkly, Richard Linklater’s movie was not made like traditional animated movies. It filmed scenes in live action first and then had animation applied on top of the film, known as rotoscoping. This meant that A Scanner Darkly is more similar to a live-action movie but has an animated look, especially when it comes to Keanu Reeves’ process of filming his part. However, he did eventually make a more traditional animated movie, and it broke records for him.
Toy Story 4 Is Keanu Reeves’ Highest-Grossing Movie Of All-Time
Toy Story 4 became Keanu Reeves’ biggest box office hit once the movie was released in 2019. Reeves joined the Pixar voice cast as Duke Caboom, a scene-stealing stuntman toy. Toy Story 4 made over $1 billion at the box office to become one of Pixar’s highest-grossing movies. Despite the relatively small role that Reeves plays in the animated movie, its place at the top of his personal box office charts does not change. As a result, Reeves set a new record for his highest-grossing movie for the first time in 16 years.
The high point of Keanu Reeves’ movies at the box office before Toy Story 4 was set by the Matrix franchise. The original movie was the first Reeves to make over $400 million worldwide, and the acclaim made interest in the sequel much higher. That is why The Matrix Reloaded became a runaway hit at the box office. The 2003 movie made $741 million worldwide, which was easily enough for it to become Keanu Reeves’ highest-grossing movie. The second entry in the sci-fi action franchise maintained this record for 16 years, as none of the John Wick movies’ box office or any other Reeves movie came close.
Toy Story 5 Is Keanu Reeves’ Best Chance To Break His Box Office Record
The box office success of Toy Story 4 is so great that Reeves has not come close to topping it so far. His other animated movie appearances in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and DC League of Super Pets made little to no mark at the box office. Even John Wick: Chapter 4‘s franchise-best $440 million box office pales in comparison. That means returning as Duke Caboom in Toy Story 5, which he is not confirmed to do, is his best chance to give him a new highest-grossing movie of his career. Unless Keanu Reeves joins a bigger franchise, it is Toy Story 5 or bust.
