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Aziz Ansari cast Keanu Reeves as an angel named Gabriel in his new Lionsgate film Good Fortune, but God apparently wasn’t looking out when Reeves tripped on a rug in his trailer.
“About 15 days into shooting with me, I said, ‘Go chill in your trailer,’” Ansari recalled during an appearance at CinemaCon on Wednesday. “He tripped on a rug…Poor guy, he was such a trooper, and he fractured his kneecap and continued to do all the scenes.”
Ansari, appearing opposite Lionsgate’s motion picture group chair Adam Fogelson during the studio’s presentation in front of theater owners, suggested that the accident was even more striking considering that through all his physically demanding work in action pics like the John Wick franchise and Speed, “he never had to go to the hospital or anything.”
After an image surfaced earlier this year from the set showing Reeves on crutches with his knee wrapped in bandages with an ice pack, Ansari noted that #GetWellSoonKeanu was trending. He, for one, was not surprised. “He actually is an angel,” he said. “He’s been pretending to be human for all these other roles.”
Lionsgate debuted the first look at Good Fortune by playing extended footage of the film that has been shrouded in a bit of mystery beyond the publicized production delay caused by last year’s strikes. Not much is known about the plot but the cast is locked in with Ansari starring opposite Reeves, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer.
Ansari directed from his own script. Anthony Katagas (Armageddon Time, Amsterdam), Alan Yang (Loot, Master of None) and Ansari will produce. Brady Fujikawa and Jon Humphrey are overseeing for the studio.
In other Ansari news, he’s also preparing to hit the stand-up stage soon as part of the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival. He’s got a May 1 date on the calendar for Aziz Ansari & Friends at L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre.
CinemaCon is being held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from April 8-11. The event hosts north of 6,000 motion picture professionals from all corners of the industry including exhibition, distribution, marketing, promotion, equipment and concession areas. The International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) and the National Association of Concessionaires (NAC) are on board as trade show partners, with Coca-Cola serving as the official presenting sponsor.
More to come.