Keanu Reeves says games are increasingly influencing movies

Cyberpunk 2077 star Keanu Reeves has spoken about the ways in which technology links the worlds of games and movies, and how the two art forms have borrowed from each other over the years.

Asked if he thinks having big Hollywood performers appearing in games helps legitimise gaming in the entertainment world, Reeves told the BBC: “I don’t think they need legitimising.

“If anything, I’d say it’s gone the other way. It’s more of the influence gaming’s had on… let’s call it Hollywood. Certainly with the Marvel universe, right?

“But then gaming probably started in the beginning with Hollywood, so I think these technologies have been talking to each other,” he continued.

“I mean Marlon Brando in the first Superman, I remember him saying ‘OK, so now they can just digitise how I am, my look, and do another performance, and I don’t need to be there.

“That idea of the technology of image capture and performance, we’re seeing in Hollywood now so many performances where they’re either ageing or making other performers younger, so the elasticity of performance and time and what you look like and who you are is getting more complex.”

In one of the most talked about moments of E3 2019, Reeves made a surprise appearance in the latest Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, which debuted during the Xbox E3 briefing, before taking to the stage to talk about his appearance in the sci-fi RPG.

Cyberpunk 2077’s latest trailer is reportedly the most viewed E3 2019 game trailer, having been watch some 20 million times.

For more on the game, read our feature on the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2019 demo.