Why Joss Whedon Wasn't Credited For His Writing Work On Speed
It's easy to forget that Joss Whedon (whose entire career has been reevaluated since allegations about his abusive behavior became public) was once one of the most sought after screenwriters in Hollywood. Before his unprecedented success with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a show that remains deeply beloved despite the shadow Whedon's misconduct has cast over its legacy) and his ascent to geek royalty after writing and directing "The Avengers," Whedon was an in-demand script doctor punching up the scripts for "Toy Story," "Waterworld," and "X-Men."
Director Jan de Bont's bomb-on-a-bus high concept action hit "Speed" launched Sandra Bullock into stardom, helped to cement Keanu Reeves as a legitimate action star, and could have catapulted Whedon to even greater heights — if he would have ever gotten credit for his contributions to the script. Breaking his silence about the snub to Huffington Post in a 2014 interview, Whedon spoke about how the Writers Guild of America (WGA) took his name off of "Speed" even after Paramount Pictures gave their blessing.
"In my whole career, I've never had to talk about it. I've never signed a copy of it, I've never sort of been a part of it," explained Whedon. The omission is an obvious sore point for a talented writer with a penchant for clever dialogue who was still making a name for himself in the early '90s. "I was pretty devastated. I have the only poster with my credit on it." "Speed" screenwriter Graham Yost has thanked Whedon in the past for writing many of the film's classic lines, and Reeves reportedly signed on after hearing about Whedon's involvement. Jeff Daniels was also reluctant to join the cast, eventually agreeing to do the movie after finding out that his character dies on page 88 of the script.
Why did Whedon not receive credit?
Even now, it's worth shining a light on why Joss Whedon wasn't ultimately given credit on "Speed," and it's fun to take a look at some of the bad ideas that ended up being changed once he came aboard the bus. Current and future screenwriters could benefit from knowing just how the WGA looks at screenwriting credit to explain why Graham Yost received the final credit. Whedon explained to Huff Post:
"It has to do with WGA bylaws. You can come in and rewrite all of the dialogue, and still not get credit. They didn't think I made big enough changes to the plot. I actually did a lot of overhaul, but much of it was to a later draft, so it went back to what Graham originally had."
It sounds like the bones were there and the basic plot remained intact. The main villain in "Speed," played with aplomb by Dennis Hopper, continued the trend set by "Die Hard" of introducing a cunning, more refined antagonist going up against an average joe who seems outsmarted at every turn. Originally, the premise for "Speed" felt almost too much like the plot of "Die Hard" and the script went through a few drafts to distance itself from the Bruce Willis smash-hit.
The main conceit of "Speed," where a city bus can't fall below 50MPH or a bomb will ignite, is undeniably ridiculous. Apparently, Whedon was brought on to add bits of dialogue to help sell the over-the-top concept that somehow, miraculously, actually still holds up as a compelling action film today.
Making the ridiculous believable
To make the absurd situation more believable, Joss Whedon handled the numerous twists and turns in "Speed" by leaning into the danger. "For me, it's only about everybody playing the reality of the situation, and having time to take out some of the 'movie stuff,'" he told Huff Post.
In the finished film, Sandra Bullock was tasked with delivering the funniest lines in "Speed" and her character Annie winds up becoming the comic relief to Keanu Reeves' straight man cop. In an earlier version of the script, Annie was actually a stand-up comic and not just a "wildcat behind the wheel," as Dennis Hopper's character refers to her. Whedon pushed back saying that, "Nobody can ever root for a stand-up comic in this kind of movie!"
That draft came after Graham Yost's screenplay and before Whedon's pass. The creative powers-that-be figured that they had to explain why Annie was capable of being funny, apparently. "They're all going to die and she's trying to get new material?" The full extent of Whedon's contributions might never be known, but at least the whole debacle allowed him to avoid writing "Speed 2," one of the most unnecessary sequels ever made.