Movies

Keanu Reeves was the third character to say 'Pop quiz' in 'Speed,' but the original line wasn't even that succinct. Screenwriter Graham Yost reveals his first draft.

Published on February 10, 2023

Every action hero has his catch phrase. In Speed, Keanu Reeves said, “Pop quiz, hot shot.” Actually, three characters said it, but it was the most badass when Jack Traven (Reeves) said it. The original line as written by Graham Yost, wasn’t quite so succinct. An uncredited Joss Whedon came up with “Pop quiz”.

Yost was a guest on the Script Apart podcast on Aug. 17, 2021 to discuss the differences between his original Speed screenplay and the final movie. He explained how his dialogue evolved into “Pop quiz.”

Keanu Reeves and Jeff Daniels would’ve discussed scenarios in original ‘Speed’ draft

Jeff Daniels plays Jack’s partner, Harry. While working on the elevator bombing, Harry gives Jack a pop quiz. Bomber Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) overhears this, so repeats “Pop quiz, hot shot!” when he calls Jack about the bus. 

“My line was far boringer,” Yost said on Script Apart. “When someone says a word like boringer you know that he’s not a great writer and he’s really just managed to get through this by bluff and b*******. It was like, ‘Okay, Jack, here’s a scenario. Guy comes into a bank, he’s got a hostage…’ They were just talking over scenarios. I don’t know if I’d read about cops talking about scenarios. I can’t remember but that was the thing.”

‘Pop Quiz’ rolled off Keanu Reeves’ tongue

After escaping the bus, Jack confronts Payne in the subway and gives him a pop quiz. That line ended up in the trailer, but Speed fans know Howard already has Annie (Sandra Bullock) hostage at this point, so the pursuit continues on the subway.

“It was Joss [who wrote] ‘Pop quiz, hot shot,’” Yost said. “This is one of those little things in life where people come up to me and go, ‘Hey, pop quiz hot shot’ and I go thanks. And inside I’m going, ‘Not my line. That’s Joss’s but did you like the scene of him going under the bus? Did you like the bus having to make the hard right turn? Did you like the bus going against traffic? That’s me. Did you like the jump onto the bus? That’s my s*** but pop quiz hotshot is not me.’”

Joss Whedon fought for a writing credit

A lot of Hollywood movies bring in multiple writers. When the film is complete, they undergo arbitration with the Writers Guild of America. Even Yost acknowledges Whedon’s contribution, but the WGA just didn’t have a paradigm to credit him in 1994. 

“The one scene that Joss really added was the scene after the hero ceremony and they get the medals and they go out and they drink,” Yost said. “That was it. So he was really not happy that he didn’t get shared writing credit. In a fairer world, there used to be old credits in Hollywood movies, additional dialogue by. There could’ve been a version where I got story and we shared screenplay but the guild didn’t see it that way.”

Yost added that one of the conditions of WGA arbitration is not to discuss it, but Whedon had mentioned his contributions to Speed in many of his interviews. 

“I made my arguments, he made his arguments and he lost his case,” Yost said. “And he was not happy about that. We sort of buried the hatchet at a point but he’s still gone on over the years and had threatening letters sent to him by the Writers Guild saying you know, you’re not supposed to talk about this stuff. And in fact, I’m probably not supposed to talk about it. So if I get thrown in the WGA jail for saying it on this podcast, it’s been nice knowing you.”

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