VANCOUVER — Keanu Reeves will be in B.C. this winter, starring in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still for Twentieth Century Fox, which has finally settled on the West coast after some delays. The picture, a remake of Robert Wise’s 1951 cult film, has set up production offices at Vancouver Film Studios, but has yet to finalize its locations and sound stages.

It will not shoot at VFS because ‘we don’t have the room — we’re full,’ says EVP and COO Pete Mitchell.

Shooting was originally set for earlier this year, but may have been ‘delayed due to script and casting issues,’ says B.C. film commissioner Susan Croome. It is now scheduled to start Dec. 3 and run until mid-March, aiming for theaters sometime in 2008.

Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) directs, with Reeves as an alien, Klaatu, who lands on Earth along with an indestructible, armed robot called Gort, to warn world leaders of impending annihilation if they don’t change their aggressive ways on planet Earth. The original is regarded as a classic among sci-fi fans and in 1952 won a Golden Globe in the rarely seen category of ‘best film promoting international understanding.’

Reeves (The Matrix) was reportedly up for a starring role in the super-hero picture The Watchmen, also shooting in Vancouver, but turned it down. He will also appear next year in the similarly titled The Night Watchman, an adaptation of the James Ellroy novel for Fox Searchlight.