The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film) writing that the generally poor reception for the film was "a sad fate for a surprisingly sincere tribute to Robert Wise's 1951 classic." Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" 'congratulated' Keanu Reeves's performance and wrote in his review that "This contemporary remake of the science-fiction classic knew what it was doing when it cast Keanu Reeves, the movies' greatest stone face since Buster Keaton." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" was not impressed with Reeves' performance, commenting that "even Klaatu looks bored and distracted, much as he did back when we knew him as Neo." William Arnold
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film) of electrical activity on Earth, per Klaatu's warning that there will be "a price to the [human] way of life." The giant sphere leaves the Earth. In 1994, 20th Century Fox and Erwin Stoff had produced the successful Keanu Reeves film "Speed". Stoff was at an office at the studio when he saw a poster for the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still", which made him ponder a remake with Reeves as Klaatu. By the time David Scarpa started writing a draft of the script in 2005, Thomas Rothman was in charge of Fox and felt a responsibility