Sponge on the Run: Keanu Reeves cameos as tumbleweed in new SpongeBob SquarePants film

Keanu Reeves has landed a cameo in the new SpongeBob Squarepants film, Sponge on the Run.

The Matrix star, who recently had a minor but widely praised comedy role in the rom-com Always Be My Maybe, will now play tumbleweed in the forthcoming children's film.

Fans were surprised when the trailer was revealed, showing Reeve's face floating in the middle of a ball of rolling weeds as it encounters SpongeBob and Patrick.

Soundtracked by Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart", Reeves tells the pair: "Hello. Call me Sage. I'm made out of sage and I am a sage, so it works out pretty well."

Sponge on the Run will also feature the voices of Tom Kenny, Awkwafina, Clancy Brown, Reggie Watts, Douglas Lawrence, Bill Fagerbakke, Roger Bumpass and Carolyn Lawrence.

It is the third SpongeBob feature film, after 2015's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and 2004's debut The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.