Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, a.k.a. the hugely popular comedy duo Key & Peele, star in New Line Cinema’s action comedy “Keanu.” The two play Clarence and Rell, cousins who live in the city but are far from streetwise. When Rell’s beloved kitten, Keanu, is catnapped, the hopelessly straight-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline. But the incredibly adorable kitten becomes so coveted that the fight over his custody creates a gang war, forcing our two unwitting heroes to take the law into their own hands.
Peter Atencio (“Key and Peele,” “The Last Man on Earth”) directed the film from a script written by Jordan Peele and Alex Rubens (“Key and Peele,” “Community”). Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Peter Principato, Paul Young, and Joel Zadak produced the film, with Ben Ormand serving as executive producer.
Peele’s character, Rell, is an introverted stoner artist, whose precious cat, Keanu, has become his favorite model, and Key is his chipper, all-too-eager-to-please cousin, Clarence. The film also stars Method Man (“The Fast and the Furious,” “Red Tails”) as the menacing gang leader, Cheddar; Tiffany Haddish (“Real Husbands of Hollywood”) as the stone-cold gangster, Hi-C; with Luis Guzmán (“We’re the Millers,” “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”) as the Mexican cartel kingpin, Bacon; Nia Long (“The Best Man” films) as Clarence’s beautiful wife, Hannah; and Will Forte (“The Last Man on Earth,” “Nebraska”) as the eccentric drug dealer, Hulka.
Atencio’s behind-the-scenes team included director of photography Jas Shelton, production designer Aaron Osborne, editor Nicholas Monsour, and costume designer Abby O’Sullivan. The music is by Steve Jablonsky & Nathan Whitehead.
New Line Cinema presents a Monkeypaw/Detroit Pictures production, a Principato-Young Entertainment production, “Keanu.” Opening in the UK beginning July 15, 2016, the film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
