Keanu Reeves did not participate in Speed 2: Cruise Control primarily because he didn’t connect with the script. He has explained that upon reading the screenplay, he felt the premise—moving Speed’s concept to a cruise ship—didn’t feel right to him, even though he liked the original film and wanted to work with Sandra Bullock again. He has stated in interviews (notably on The Graham Norton Show and in later conversations) that he simply didn’t respond to the script at that time, which led to turning down the project. The decision also had downstream consequences for his relationship with the studio for a period, but the core reason remained his sense that the script didn’t work for him.