 Hundreds of ideas for a sequel were submitted to de Bont, all of which he turned down in favor of his own idea, based on a recurring nightmare he experienced about a cruise ship crashing into an island. Speed screenwriter Graham Yost had an idea for a film involving a boat, with a Vietnam War-era vessel loaded with weapons that would explode if its ammunition came in contact with water. He also had an idea for a story about a plane that has to fly through the Andes mountains, but cannot ascend above 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Neither Yost nor Speed producer Mark Gordon were asked to participate in the sequel, although Yost received a "characters created by" credit and Gordon was credited as executive producer for Speed 2. Randall McCormick was hired to write the sequel in 1994 and received a story credit along with de Bont. McCormick and Jeff Nathanson collectively wrote the screenplay, working back from the idea based on de Bont's nightmare, while writers Kevin Peterka and Greg Chabot provided additional uncredited work to the screenplay. Prior to production, details about the film were kept secret, and de Bont refused to confirm rumors about the film taking place on a ship, although he did state that the sequel would be "funnier". Speed 2 star Jason Patric said that details were kept secret because "people do tend to steal other people's ideas", but said the sequel is a "very complex movie" and would have "bigger sequences".
