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John Wickcelebrates its 10th anniversary this week , a decennary after it switch modern film . With a spin - off lineament cinema arriving in theaters in 2025 titledBallerina , another in development star Donnie Yen , and a TV serial correct after theending ofJohn Wick : Chapter 4 , it may seem a bounce to consider that this virtuoso action franchise almost did n’t exist at all . In fact , the originalJohn Wickproduction was so troubled , from a want of experience to problems with financing , that it can be ably compare to the hell Keanu Reeves ' nominal lineament fought through .
It ’s a will to the creative thinking and resiliency of the sexual union of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch , two stunt veteran who had never directed a main unit on a feature article beforeJohn Wick , that the film came together . There was also the benefit of helping hands from many others , most peculiarly Keanu himself , who helpedJohn Wicksee the light of day in 2014.John Wickreturns to theatersfor its 10th anniversary on November 3 & 6 with Fathom Events .
To discuss the iconic action film ’s growing and the growing franchise it spawned , I arranged interview with music director Chad Stahelski , executive manufacturer David Leitch , and executive manufacturer Erica Lee . I also connect with Saiful Creation for this beautiful exclusiveJohn Wick10th anniversary post-horse overlay art for thisScreenRantspecial feature :
Saiful Creation
There Was Almost No Hope For A John Wick Franchise At First
John WickNeeded Money, And Then It Needed Buyers
WhenJohn Wickwas shooting in New York in late 2013 it was just about getting it done for its crew , any means they could . Executive Producer Basil Iwanyk was helping bear for wardrobe on deferred payment cards , Keanu Reeves and David Leitch were induct personally , and a last - minute $ 6 million save from star Eva Longoria thanks to natural endowment agency CAA helping organise financing observe the production alert . At the time , the estimate of aJohn Wick 2wasn’t a consideration , specially for a pair of first - time headlining directors .
" I do n’t think we saw it as a franchise when we first mystify it . I call up we were really just excited to get a chance to sit around in the director ’s chair . We had been artificer , stunt performers , stunt coordinator , fight choreographer , and then activity second unit theater director for twelvemonth . And it was just great to now finally have a motion picture that we call our own . And so we laid it all on the line,“David Leitchtell us .
Leitch was an uncredited co - managing director on the firstJohn Wickwith longtime collaborator and friendChad Stahelski , which launched his own feature of speech engineer life history . Leitch went on to directDeadpool 2 , Fast & Furious Presents : Hobbs & Shaw , Bullet Train , andThe Fall Guy . Things were a portion plastered onJohn Wick , as Leitch explained :
Cover art by Saiful Creation
" It was a little budget and a scant agenda , and we used our 20 - plus age of knowledge of making moving-picture show and put it all in there . And now we luckily vibrate with people and we ’ve build a world that mass need to continue to arrive see . "
There was no attend far ahead during product onJohn Wick . It was about surviving while get a line on the job . When ask how much intellection conk intoJohn Wick’sstory and ideas for a subsequence beyond the first movie , Chad Stahelski says,“Zero . No , man . We wrap , Dave and I went run for the hills . We each took another 2d - unit spear as before long as we could , to try and pay for our lives , really . We retrieve we were done . "
We were very majestic of our guy wire and what we did for the workplace , and our stunt team and our crew . We were very impressed with that , but we were just in this monumental state of impression . We ’re kind of like , " Oh , well , we hear a lot . What are you going to do ? We were too weird , but at least we made what we want to make . " There ’s a little flake of superbia in that . At the same time , there ’s a petty bit of like , " We ’re never go to work again . "
Chad Stahelski, Keanu Reeves, and David Leitch on the set of the first John Wick movie.
It was the same for everyone ask . " None " is the Book Executive Producer Erica Lee narrate us in echoing Chad ’s sentiment . “When we were making the first flick , we did it severally . The moving-picture show fly apart 10 meter financially,“Lee adds :
The check did not clear , and Chad and David never direct primary unit of measurement before . They never directed together , so there were so many factors . We had no statistical distribution . So , just sort of making it to the finish line of John Wick was a effort in itself . And then to be true , we did n’t really get it on what we had . I remember screening it for buyers and almost all the distributors walked out . We certainly had no idea until later on in the process . Lionsgate finish up buy the movie for domesticated distribution . We establish it to them in July . They were like , " Oh , we have no Saw coming out this year . Let ’s put it out in October . " Kind of arbitrary decisions .
" Every studio in townsfolk witness it and they passed,“Leitch tells us separately . “And we point it at Fantastic Fest . Lionsgate , on a titlark suppose , ' Okay , let ’s just see what we have here . ' And it blew the ceiling off and they ’re like , ' Holy crap . We have this motion-picture show we did n’t realize that everyone would know . ' And then straight off they buy domesticated , and they strike it to an October release , and it was all happening . It materialize in six weeks . "
Title
Total Box Office
Release Date
John Wick
$ 86,013,056
October 24 , 2014
John Wick : Chapter 2
$ 171,539,887
February 10 , 2017
John Wick : Chapter 3 - Parabellum
$ 327,777,335
May 17 , 2019
John Wick : Chapter 4
$ 440,180,275
March 24 , 2023
The short window meant minimum marketing forJohn Wick(you shouldcheck out our interview with Keanu Reeves from 10 years ago ) and its ecumenical box place receipts was under USD $ 90 million . “The funny thing is the first motion picture did well , but not so well , right?,“explains Lee . “It was really in its hereafter , like VOD and everything , that it made a ton of money . All of a sudden we were like , oh my gosh , we have the luxury of making a subsequence . And we sort of had no idea . We never saw that coming . We had no plan . So it was a while . " EveryJohn Wickmovie has made more at the box office than its predecessor .
“Less is More” With John Wick
David Leitch & Chad Stahelski Wouldn’t Change A Thing When Reflecting Back On The FirstJohn Wick.
With a decade of directorial experience each under their belts , and a multitude of projects on the fashion from Chad Stahelski and David Leitch , if they could go back in time and give themselves a objet d’art of advice in makingJohn Wick , what would it be ?
David Leitch : Hindsight ’s 20/20 . I do n’t get laid . I am not say we were perfect , but I imagine that our imperfectness made it the movie that it is . I think there ’s a lot to learn . There ’s a good story . When you ’re an military action manager , you do n’t get to post the film . You return all your natural action scenes to the main music director , and so you ’re working with them to dart the things that they desire and then you give it to them . So this was really the first time we had to be in the edit room and be in post for so long . And you observe a movie over and over and over , and it ’s a acquirement to acquire how to catch something over and over and detach and depend at it critically .
One thing I might say is that I ’m a maximalist , obviously , when you look at Fall Guy and you look at Bullet Train . But sometimes less is more and I think we learned that in the editorial suite in Wick . Our editor , Elisabet Ronaldsdottir , was amazing . She kept sublimate the movie . " You ask less , just a small scrap less . This movie ’s visual . You ’re going to do some decent elegant visual storytelling . You do n’t need that line of talks . You do n’t need this . This can sour with a feel . " And all of that was a swell learnedness process for the future tense .
I am not say we were unadulterated , but I think that our imperfections made it the moving-picture show that it is .
" There ’s about a million matter I woulda , coulda , shoulda . I ’m also a chip of a realist in a really pragmatic sense,“adds Chad Stahelski . “If I could go back and alter anything , I likely would n’t be sit here . Dave and I survived through the arrogance of ignorance . We just thought we do it what we were fuckin ' doing , and we did n’t , and we stumbled our way of life to here . If we had known more , we credibly would ’ve made unlike decisiveness . I ’d like to think that I would n’t have done too many . "
Stahelski read the biggest learning he ’d share with his young self revolve around"how to deal with people"and being"open - minded"to"see thing from every angle,“emphasizing that the crew is on the same team .
Chad Stahelski : The other thing is it happens a fate in our patronage because it ’s so massively collaborative , stand for studio , crew , mold . No one ’s trying to make something not skilful , but everyone has their sentiment on how to do it . As a director , it ’s very important . Me and my other directing Friend , we call it chase the dragon . you may chase review , you may chase what an audience say , you may chase note , you may do all this stuff and nonsense , but then if you do succeed , which one of them was right ? How do you know how to do it the next time ?
I just go with my intestine , literally 100 % . I ’ll hear , I ’ll go , " Hey , man , that ’s a slap-up idea . That ’s a great idea . " In my heart , even though I may have sex what you sound out , I know it ’s not going to work in this finical way , so I can just say sleep together off , or I can say , " Hey military man , that ’s a capital musical theme , but it ’s just not go to work . " You may believe me , you may not , but at least all the decision in the Wicks amount from my gut . At the prison term I doubted a deal of them , but at least I know now where my honest due north is .
I think that ’s one of the most important things you’re able to instruct , is disregarding of what somebody may say or reviews or if the whole crowd is against me , if I go with my bowel , at least I ’m the only one to blame , and I ’m the only one to gauge where I ’m at or channelise the ship . Yeah , that ’d be the main thing I ’d push if I could give a minuscule advice .
John Wick’s Dog And House Set the Stage
The First Days Of ShootingJohn WickIn His House With His Puppy Became Everyone’s Defining Moment
I asked Chad , David , and Erica what their favorite consequence was when looking back on makingJohn Wickand for everyone involved it ’s all about those first daytime burgeon forth with Keanu Reeves in John Wick ’s house . It was different , thought-provoking , and risky , and it was in those moments that John Wick was really born .
David Leitch : The pic was a challenge , I ’m not going to lie . I consider we were coming off shooting big second units where we had budgets three time the size of the entire Wick movie . We were shooting Marvel movies and had longer schedules in our second unit of measurement than we did in our first unit on John Wick . There ’s so many affectionate memories , but I think one of them is shooting that battle panorama in the house , the first home invasion tantrum . I just feel like that was go to be a special present moment . It was a meter when we got to do some choreography that we ’ve been baking for years , and we had acquaint it to other directors , and they were n’t really concerned . And so it was really the first time we catch to trifle with that stuff . And I was watching it be preserve on digital mass medium as we were shooting it , and we get really excited , and we were like , " Here we go . This is it . This is the inwardness of the action style . "
Chad Stahelski : Oh , the first John Wick . I think it impinge on you the first day . You step on set . You ’re the manager . It ’s not about the stress or anything . It ’s about that moment and you ’re attempt to be super fuckin ' cool . We were big second - whole director and action stunt guys , so we ’re presuppose to be the cool 1 , nothing gets to us .
Then even the first day , we ’re shooting Keanu around the sign of the zodiac , just moping about after his wife had died , and we ’re like , " Oh , we ’re directing Keanu . We ’re using this thing , " and it does hit you . " Ooh , I well not sleep together this up , " because one , Keanu is a really effective acquaintance , and he ’s really doing us a solid by giving us a shot . You find the little bit of pressure , and you realize on Clarence Day one there ’s another 50 solar day to go , and each metre , you advantageously not escape . That ’s a minuscule daunting .
Then it was n’t until … there was two big things . The very first battle scene in his menage , the first time you see the Gun Fu stuff . You ’d have to ask Dave or Keanu , but we did that in some ridiculous brusk time , like two or three days . I remember imagine at the end . I was already chopping it or abbreviate it in my head . I ’m like , " We got it . This is nerveless . If I think it ’s nerveless , it ’s going to be cool . Trust me , it ’s going to be cool . "
I call back at the time it was all about perforate and kick , degenerate editing , shaky cam , and we were like one long dolly . It naturally looks slower and it does n’t have the panache or the dad of three cameras , and there was a niggling flake of doubt , but I was like I know that there was something cool there because I thought it was nerveless . I saw Keanu doing the nerveless jump - spin move , and I was like , " Eh , it ’s cool . "
Then I believe other masses have different opinion on this , but the Nox where we shot Keanu , he had been pose up by Josef and he had the little stuff puppy and there was a bloody track to the pup . There ’s a lot of the great unwashed watching , being very concerned about how this is fail to exploit . One of those , " It ’ll either be the sound or the worst fit in the moving picture , " because it could go south very quickly .
You got a characterization : It ’s Keanu Reeves in his pajamas with a stuffed beagle dog with lineage everywhere , crying , and that can be improbably emotional or really weird . Dave and I looked at each other mentation , " Oh , this is the hardest shot of the twenty-four hours . This is the one that the movie hinge on . Did we breeze through it or make it too goofy ? " I thought the way we shot it and hit it and did it a little artsy , we were like , " No , we nailed it . We ’re proficient . " There was , I believe , a deal of other opinions about , " Oh , these guys are done . "
Erica Lee : I think of the day that we shot the drained weenie and we used this close , stuffed animal , of the frank , and we ’re rolling , and you just see Keanu holding this stuff firedog and crying , and you are sort of like , I do n’t lie with if this is the spoiled thing we ’ve ever pullulate or the best affair we ’ve ever shoot . I had fall back the plot of ground . So I cogitate there ’s a lot of moments like that along the way .
Where The Name “John Wick” Came From
The origin of John Wick’s name and why the movie dropped its “Scorn” title.
I wanted to know where the name " John Wick " come from and how it ended up becoming the title of the film , replacing the original title " Scorn " which was on the spec handwriting . David Leitch was n’t sure on why or how the title came to be but Chad Stahelski reveals it ’s found on the name of screenwriter Derek Kolstad ’s grandfather . Exec producer Erica Lee later explained to us that there was n’t too much thought put on titling the motion-picture show as no one had other suggestion .
Chad Stahelski : It ’s Derek Kolstad ’s grandfather ’s name . Derek wrote it . He wrote in his granddad , who we really prize . You ’d have to ask Derek the actual narration . Derek just told me a little bit about his grandpa . We had very similar Polish grandfathers , so we would talk about their etiquette and their character . Very right man - eccentric hoi polloi , but Derek told me his name was John Wick , and he wanted to give tribute to his granddaddy . We thought that was passing nerveless .
A - list whizz Keanu Reeves has conserve and break many telling records . However , there ’s one singular trend the actor continue to this twenty-four hour period .
" There ’s nothing wrong with the name Scorn . I just think Scorn could get lost , and it was n’t what we ’d call an identifier,“continues Stahelski . He explain that the deed mostly came down to what Keanu and Executive Producer Basil Iwanyk were thinking , acknowledging that Keanu"had done a luck of Johns in his vocation . “Stahelski explains that as"the action guys"trying to be more than that , he and David Leitch thought " Scorn " sound too military action - focused and too neutral .
For whatever rationality , John Wick sounded cooler to us .
Erica Lee : The funny story is yes , it was a specification script that Derek Kolstad write , I read and get laid , but the book at the time was write for a much older man . Scorn felt sort of like a bad revulsion movie . And so the account is that we collected all the interns and say , we ca n’t call this movie Scorn . We ’re go bad to do an national Thunder Road pool . Whoever comes with the best form of address wins lunch . No one come up with anything . Basil was like , " Why do n’t we just call it John Wick ? That ’s the name of the lead reference . " And the meaning behind John Wick is that Derek Kolstad ’s , I conceive grandfather ’s name in substantial life is John Wick . So arbitrary decisions that are now cemented in pop finish .
Which John Wick Characters Are Really Dead?
Some John Wick supporting characters are dead, but some may not be…
Are there characters that the John Wick creative team would wish to bring back ?
Chad Stahelski : Oh , my God , so many . John Leguizamo I love and we bring back in the second one . Jimmy , I know we brought back in the second one . I fuckin ' love life Jimmy , the cop . He ’s such a good role player , such a great guy too . Oh , David Patrick Kelly is Charlie . We did bring him back in the second one , but I cut his aspect . It just did n’t fit . We were stick with a really serious runtime problem with No . 2 , and it ’s just me being a goofy director . I love that lineament .
" If I was pass to bring someone , I tried in No . 4 to bring back Addy,“adds Stahelski speaking about Bridget Regan ’s fibre who has only look in the first picture show as an employee of The Continental in New York . “We just pass out of time and money in Paris , but really I love all my hurl , but those are three characters I ’d fetch back in . I ’d bring back Common , and I ’d bring in back Halle Berry in a minute .
I ’d make for back Common , and I ’d land back Halle Berry in a arcsecond .
David Leitch , who only has a unmediated connection to the cast of the firstJohn Wick , sees fiber for a more virtual function , as elements serving the larger story .
David Leitch : I like them all so much , but they ’ve all sort of serve their design in the story . And I consider when you ’re say a story , you have to deplumate at the heartstrings or you need excited catharsis . And I do n’t have any regrets . It ’s like that first movie is so elegant in its execution and everyone came and delivered what they needed to deliver that it is what it is . I mean , of course of study I ’d love to work with Willem any day of the week , but it was beautiful what he did , and so we require it . The tale necessitate it .
John Wick is the first entry in the action-thriller franchise directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves. Retired hitman John is brought back into the field when the dog his recently deceased life left him is murdered. Full of rage and equipped with unparalleled combat skills, John begins to track down the ones responsible for the act of violence and lays waste to any who dare to cross his path, sending panic throughout the criminal underworld.
For Erica Lee , who exec produces all theJohn Wickinstallments , she see more value in returning characters and , like me , misses Willem Dafoe . “Willem is just the best bozo ever and such a great actor that I would ’ve loved to bring him back,“she allege before add :
That ’s a beneficial question . We killed Common in a way that I experience like we ’ve debated if we could bring him back or not . And look how we left John Wick 4 , I think we could bring John Wick back .
Lee continues , telling us that she really would love to bring back Halle Berry as well . “I mean , now we sort of get incoming vociferation a little bit because people are like , I desire to be in the John Wick movies , which is first-rate sport too,“she add .
John Wick’s Groundbreaking Choreography and Gun-Fu
John Wick not only delivers the best action but it does so in tough environments, sometimes with vehicles, and sometimes with animals.
John Wick has become a New masterclass in weapons manipulation and realistic shootouts with esteem to utilizing the exact number of heater in a cartridge clip . How difficult was it to get right for the first movie , and how much did it mean for you Guy to get these variety of detail right ?
David Leitch : It was crucial to us , maybe more important to Chad . I think , and this is no jibe , it ’s like we all had different sensitivity . We ’d been directing action together for a farsighted time , but I think he was really specific about some of the gas pedal stage dancing that he loved and wanted this authenticity with form of the gun fetish stuff . And that was cool . And I recall that ’s amazing because it added sort of another layer to the choreography . Great stage dancing comes from giving yourself trouble . You desire to make a fight scene that ’s compelling ? Now put them on ice or put them in the rain or put them … Again , count the hummer . Give your stage dancing team the problems to work , and you ’ll detect such smashing , interesting moments . And that was just another dimension to put into the choreography .
Chad Stahelski : Oh , await , we did a luck of talking about how we ’re blend to put up out . We did n’t desire to be 100 % realistic , but we did n’t desire to be phantasy . We just made a little chart , like we ’re counting bullets . We ’re going to do secretive - quarters . Bullets go through machine door , they go through walls . You ca n’t hide behind silly shit , but you got ta run out of bullets , and if you get scoot , we ’ll shoot like professionals , like the Mossad . Not to get too crazy , but two to the heart , one to the headway . We ’re going to do some tactical stuff . On the other hand , we wanted to come up with uncanny hooey like bulletproof suit and stuff that may not be as efficient as the movie translation is . We know we ’re make a little bite of play there . That ’s all .
" When you have Keanu it ’s incredibly easy,“Stahelski continues , tote up that their stunt teams and the 87eleven Action Design crew are some of the best . " I ca n’t tell you how many rhythm he must have gone through just training for the John Wicks . Between all four motion-picture show , it ’s in the high six figures , the identification number of times he shot . Where we shoot was very specific . We ’d frivol away up at Taran Butler ’s blank space , which is a three - gun champion guy . You get very attuned to how many rounds you ’re pump , because in tournaments and contention you have to know . You have to be very ego - aware of it . "
Chad Stahelski : I retrieve Keanu was literally bet most of the meter . If he was n’t , between our armour team and our stunt team , it was n’t as hard as you think . Especially if we were cutting all over the station , it would ’ve been much hard . Because we go in long takes and I photograph very sequential , it was right smart easy than you think to keep count .
Taran Butler , the first ever USPSA Multigun National Tactical Champion , go Taran Tactical Innovations which works with Hollywood stars including Keanu Reeves and producer to train them on firearm use and tactic .
John Wick movies put up the bar again for the activity music genre and have been influential . How do you feel about the franchise ’s impact on the musical style and manufacture as a whole ?
Chad Stahelski : I ’ve just put it together , but it ’s nothing that I had n’t seen before . We just put it together . Like Gun Fu . Okay , well , they did it in Equilibrium and then John Woo , and then I did it slightly different . I baked the same cookie everybody was doing , I just used a small routine more sugar , a little snatch more chocolate chip . It ’s still the same fuckin ' cookie , though , is n’t it ? I wish lighting , so I emphasize more on , with Dan Laustsen , firing . I like studio apartment composition , so I ’m using the dolly and Hart Crane more than handheld . Is that anything innovational ? No .
I just think people , it ’s like manner . They did n’t invent the straightforward branch or the toll bottom , just they convey it back . I brought back a certain flavour to action that people gravitated to because of the course . Would you require the same thing of Paul Greengrass with Bourne ? Did he invent the trembling cam ? No . Did he fabricate skinny - stern combat or kali , arnis , or sikaran ? No . Did he invent the shot rapid climb into a phone call ? No , he just put it together in this dainty rules of order that was aesthetically appealing , and gave a kind of energy that masses gravitate to and they kind of dug it .
We take care at ourselves like , depend , we do jiu - jitsu , aikido , confining - quarter shooter work . Anybody that ’s military police or a militant gun , they count slug too . It just was n’t done in the movies because it was kind of a bother in the screw . We did n’t really invent or do up with anything . We just learn sample of what we were already experiencing in our lives and put it in a way … and whether we got lucky or it was good timing … that people just liked it , that ’s all .
David Leitch : Oh , I feel so proud . I think finally we dumbfound to do something that was really provocative and we got to search some melodic theme in the action purpose space that we had n’t been able to explore with other directors . And then to keep an eye on where Chad has taken it . Chad is a smart as a whip choreographer and action designer and he has such a bright mind for action . It ’s really beautiful to see what he ’s done with the sequences in the sequels . And as much as we ’ve worked together in the past as co - directors or co - stunt coordinators or co - choreographer , it ’s beautiful to see him just tread it up and bring his A game to these affair and leaven the cake every time . They ’re really incredible films .
John Wick’s Director Doesn’t Want Your Credit for Changing Action Movies
Director Chad Stahelski is inspired by so much else, from Samurai films to Anime.
dealership directorChad Stahaleskipays all the credit and respect to the average and other filmmakers beforeJohn Wick , and in his eyes , he ’s just piece together thing he jazz . Producer Erica Lee shares a different perspective , comparingWickto other action movies of the time a decade ago .
Chad Stahelski : I get asked that a lot . Look , if we were back in 1902 and this was the first natural process movie of all time , maybe I could take quotation and go , " Ah , genius . " It is 2024 , and I did n’t start up induce the John Wicks till 2014 , and I was a 2nd - unit of measurement guy way back in the early 2000s . Then there ’s about a hundred eld of legal action movies before me , and there ’s these guys like Spielberg , James Cameron , John Woo , Tarantino , Kurosawa . God , so many others , all from the ' 70 . It was like , okay . From The Wild Bunch to Bullitt to Scorsese to what Pacino was doing . There ’s so many . It ’s all the direction back to John Ford in Stagecoach , right ? Whether it ’s Wong Kar - wai or Zhang Yimou or Yuen Woo - ping or John Woo or Ang Lee , I ’m a little influence .
When you see a John Wick motion picture , you ’re just seeing me filter every Samurai , Zatoichi , Kurosawa , Chinese Wu Zhao film , from Crouching Tiger room back to Jackie Chan and Jet Li , all the way through the Shaw Brothers . You ’re looking at Westerns , you ’re looking at French cinema from Le Samourai , Le Cercle Rouge . You ’re wait at , you know , insert name of any … Street Fighter , Kung Fu . I pick Korean films all the time . I ’ve got probably 10,000 natural process movies in my chief , but on top of another 5,000 anime manga . If you look in my office , it ’s nothing but Quran and DVD . Then I have a 38 - year martial arts backdrop from all over the man in like 10 different disciplines under Dan Inosanto . If I just would list the soldierlike artistic creation people I ’ve canvass under , and you wonder why we do action . It ’s like I do n’t know if I can take any credit .
Erica Lee : It ’s entirely changed the action game , but right before John Wick came out , I do n’t get laid , everything was kind of the same . And I call back that we came out and we had Keanu who you could tell was doing the stunt and we did n’t cut . And these long takes and gun fu and railway car fu , and killing people with belittled objects and really using the environment to create sequences , I recall we were a lot of the first people to do that . The question I get most ask in this business from other buyers or studios or manufacturer , is " we want our John Wick , we desire our John Wick . " And I recall we tap into conjuring trick in a bottleful , no doubt . And Keanu was the unadulterated casting . He sort of embodies John Wick , and it just hit this minute where I think consultation were delirious for something fresh .
Crafting The Modern Mythology and Rules of the John Wick Universe
Planning out sequels took a lot of creativity and the help of screenwriter Derek Kolstad but how much is a gold coin actually worth?
David Leitch co - directed the first movie but was n’t too directly regard in the sequels , with Chad Stalhelski helming those as Leitch knead on other projects . For Chad , his favoriteJohn Wickis the original where he worked with David , but the one he ’s most lofty of isChapter 2 .
Watching the traditional knowledge exposit with the continuation movies has been fascinating . What were some of the original ground rules for the Assassin ’s Guild and The Continental ?
David Leitch : Well , I think we kept it shadowy . And what was great about Derek ’s script , there was an elegant minimalism to it that … And all these great musical style kind of sprinkling . And I do n’t even know if Derek experience what we were revolutionise by . And so we started to make a mythology in our mind because we ’re such Zanzibar copal fans and lifelike novel fans . And so we hold back seeing it as a myth , a modern myth , and almost like a pansy tale , correct ? John Wick , this Hades .
I guess it might ’ve been more genuine in Derek ’s mind , maybe not . But we tried to keep it hoar so we could go somewhere . And we also feel like it was fun that you did n’t make love all of it . You knew suggestion of this underworld , but you did n’t all of it . And unknowingly , that obviously set up the sequels in a really slap-up way . It ’s like , no , we hump that part of John Wick . They ’re like , " Oh , you did ? " They really get laid this sort of underworld hiding in unornamented mass that we wanted to make . And Chad has just done such an incredible job of shepherding all of that in such an expansive way move ahead and throw buff what they want in that world building .
When it came toJohn Wick : Chapter 2the deputation changed . Now , John Wick ’s Earth postulate to be search , and this subway was to become more than just a background . When Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski agreed to work on a sequel with Lionsgate they ’d only do so if they had full creative control .
" They just cypher , ' Well , how uncanny can they go and we ’ll just do what we can , and it ’s probably only unspoiled for one more . ' They give us a pretty long leash,“Stahelski explains . “And then it was like Keanu and I got back together and went , ' Ooh . Well , we really do n’t get it on what to do . ' We arrive together with Derek Kolstad , and No . 2 is when we figured thing out . "
We came up with the estimate that there ’s a Continental in every city . Derek had add up up with the thought of mark . Then I was like , " Well , fuck it . If we ’re sound to go that deep , let ’s go full Lord of the Rings , and we ’re go to make a fantasy world here and that ’s how we ’ll start modeling it . "
I do n’t know about Keanu , but for me , I ’m the most majestic of No . 2 because that ’s where we crack the computer code . After that , it became not easier , but it became much more interesting . We know we did n’t have to put ourselves in a boxful . We could do anything . Bulletproof suits , dogs , ninjas , it did n’t matter . Anywhere in the world , deserts , elder , mellow board , cars , motorcycles , boats , it did n’t matter . We could do anything . We were trying to slip from the best of Bond or Mission or anything else like that . We had free reign and no original IP to adhere to . That ’s when we just felt fabulously free . That ’s why I think Keanu and I stayed with the dealership so long . It ’s 100 % ours , and it was 100 % unlimited .
As for the rules for assassin and the value of a gold coin ?
Chad Stahelski : I think in most of them , you ca n’t do business on Continental ground , and I think the adult superintendence formula of everything is everything in the John Wick world is transactional . Nothing ’s for devoid and there ’s always a cost , no matter what the price is . Might not be a terms , but there is a cost . That ’s all you have to know . There ’s always something .
As far as a gold coin , we never look at it . As far as a monetary value , a gold coin is worth what it is in gold , which is around 1,200 bucks , but that was n’t the point . A golden coin is a membership board . It does n’t matter . Some people were giving us shit about that after the first one . It was like , " Well , is it deserving a drink ? Is it worth this ? " No . If you ’re in the Continental and you have atomic number 79 coins , the actual Charles Frederick Worth of the coin is irrelevant . It is you are bear witness it as , " I ’m part of the club . I ’m above monetary economic value . " This is the new pecuniary payment .
A coin can be deserving a drink to somebody important . It can be deserving a firearm , rounds of ammunition , it can be worth a haircut or it could be worth a young suit , or it can be worth one lifetime . As you saw in the first one , I think it was 13 bodies and he had 13 coins . That ’s the price . It ’s an understated I guess formula of the earth that a coin is for the deed of servicing or the act of ledger entry . It ’s more about I guess it ’s like an IOU . It could be an act of faith , an act of rank , an human activity of serve or something .
The mercenaries of the John Wick universe use their honest-to-god gold coin currency , but how much is each piece worth in the Keanu Reeves movie franchise ?
Erica Lee : That ’s a great question . The gold coin , I do n’t think we ever put a pecuniary parceling to it . I think it was more just like if you know , you know . If you had one , it was like the gilded ticket in . And it is rum because it does buy you unlike things within dissimilar movies , but it ’s more same , yeah , we never assign it . We should do that though . If we make John Wick 5 , we should definitely do . We always have intercourse the estimation that the Au coins were made in Switzerland or gold melted , and these vaults . We ’ve create a peck of lore . But what ’s fun about the continentals , we always get asked , we leave so much untold . And so the gold coin , everyone loves the lore of that . So it was fun with the continentals to kind of descend up with the idea of the coin press as suffice sort of one of the interrogation .
The Keanu Reeves Factor
Keanu Reeves gave David and Chad this shot to direct with John Wick and then made sure they controlled the sequels.
After the craze success ofJohn Wick , Lionsgate had called Keanu Reeves to necessitate about turningJohn Wickinto a enfranchisement beginning withChapter 2 . Since then , he ’s had unmediated creative involvement with the IP , but originalJohn Wickteam ’s history together get going back so much further . Keanu work with Chad and David onThe Matrixmovies andConstantine , and it was Keanu who trusted the first - time main whole theater director withJohn Wick , so much so that he help pay for it as well .
Chad Stahelski : In the true story of thing , John Wick 1 was bang-up . It ’s my fave , of course , but it was n’t until John Wick 2 that we got ask . Keanu had called up and said , " Hey , Lionsgate just predict me . They want to do another one . " I was like , " Really , like that ? " He ’s like , " Yeah . " We finally discover out how well it had done , and Keanu and I live on back in and we ’re like , " Okay , we ’ll do it , but we ’ll do it our way . Just secern us what the turn is and we ’ll figure it out , but you ca n’t , because we ’re lead to go weird and we do n’t want any supervising . "
Since the franchise has blow up with succeeder , how has Reeves ' access to the John Wick type evolved over the 10 days ?
David Leitch : I reckon Keanu always approaches the character with bailiwick . And I ca n’t speak from being on set for those subsequence because I ’ve been really in the backdrop . But be intimate Keanu and from my experience , I ’m sure the approach is the same . It ’s like this sort of unrelenting bailiwick of training and finding the character physically and examine the script and finding these significant moments to hyperbolise and being a partner from soup to crackpot .
Chad Stahelski : I do n’t know if the plan of attack has changed , but he ’s definitely been very ego - aware about how to develop the type . I mean , face . In retrospect , it ’s very easy , and I get asked these a lot . It ’s a natural assumption that there was a master plan . I do n’t know how the really great creatives at Marvel or DC or Disney or some of the other big franchise situation do it . Maybe they have the big crossboard with the 20 - year imagination . We had the six - month imaginativeness , how to survive and get through the movie at hand .
I denounce you not , there was n’t one John Wick flick where we had a program to go to another one . It was , " Survive this , make it through . We ’re almost out of money , end it . " There was n’t a day after we wrapped that we ’re like , " We ’re done . jazz you all . " It ’s always like a year subsequently we decided to do another one , and there was no plan . There was no far - reach expectations . We were done , done . Now when we go back into it , it ’s like , " Oh , oh . "
It ’s unearthly to bet back , you know what I mean ? Now I look back and it ’s like , " Okay , " my stage being if you had front at the table knowing that , " Hey , Keanu , we ’re depart in 2014 , we get to track the character where it ’s perish to be in 2024 , do your character arcs and plotting , " we ’d plausibly have developed the scripts way other than , but every time it ’s been , " Well , see you by and by , Isle of Man . live on holiday . See you in a year . " Then when we get together , we go , " Okay , what are we run to do now ? " Scratch our heads . You have to evolve the new book with the design that , " Okay , he was here when we finish the movie . What would be fun to see ? "
That ’s how we approached it . It ’s like , " What would the audience enjoy seeing Keanu do ? " Well , they desire to see him own it . They want to see him be responsible for his action at law . They want to have intercourse that , hey , world , if Keanu just took his own life story , his booster would still be alive . You need to see him own that , but you also see him want to kick back a little ass . He approaches it from a very internal point of prospect , I approximate . Also , we all get it . We want to make picture that are fun for people to issue forth and learn .
The Most Challenging John Wick Action Scenes
Some of John Wick’s action sequences were more complex than you’d expect.
The John Wick serial oftentimes adds layer to its action set pieces , from animals to vehicles , and they always seem to submit unexpected challenges for the filmmakers who continually attempt to raise the bar with each movie . So , what was the rugged John Wick action scene ?
Erica Lee : Oh , human beings , that ’s a hard question . I think it ’s preference plausibly , I mean , shooting in France was very challenging . And also shooting the Halle Berry click episode in Morocco was one of the more thought-provoking ones . I entail , there ’s always logistics ; horses in New York and the license . And so every moving-picture show has its own really specific thing . But when we shot in Morocco , it was super thought-provoking because when we got there , a bunch of the locations we had want to use were unavailable . And one rum anecdote is where we shoot that shootout , that sequence with the dogs , was at a tiny fishing village . So there were Pisces everywhere , and then there were cats everywhere . And the dogs who had been ship in from the U.S. and Canada , there ’s four frump . Two by the time they made it to Morocco , just did n’t like Morocco and did n’t want to execute .
And then there were cats everywhere and dead Pisces everywhere , and the dogs were get very distrait . So we had to ramp up this hombre hotel on the side of the set , and we were constantly wrangling the cat . And I just remember our call time that day was like 2:30 in the cockcrow . Halle was a true champion . We had labour the shoot because she had broken her costa . It was just sort of mayhem in cosmopolitan . I say that was one of the more challenging kind of sections . But I mean , there ’s aboveboard so many . I intend , the Arc de Triomphe was challenging , the resets and the permitting in New York , and specifically in France at Sacre - Cœur , and some of the locations we were trying to get were just really hard .
John Wick : Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski explains why the Arc de Triomphe scene was by far the most severe scene to pull off .
" I have to give it all to Chad because those are all his things and his creations,“said David Leitch on the sequel ’s increasingly unwarranted set piece . " And I can sit as an protagonist of stunts and a stunt designer myself and a former stunt performer . And I can say that the stairfall in Wick 4 is a body of work of art . It is just one of the most impressive feat of forcible stunt functioning that I ’ve take in .
Sometimes it does n’t always operate as mean , even within schedules and budgets . In the firstJohn Wickthe car aspect for example be the production a day or two . And inChapter 3 , there ’s another vehicle moment which did n’t end up feel like it accommodate the naturalistic look the series is known for .
David Leitch : We had a slice of machine military action in there where we were a little mo of car action at law at the docks and we created some cool camera mounts for Keanu to really be driving . And then we had the moment of underprice the SUV off into the dry dockage and all of that stuff was things that they said you ca n’t give , you ’re not going to be able to give it . We had to really calculate our penny and give a day or two of budget to get those things in the moving-picture show , live what an action fans would want . We had to fight for that clobber . And normally that size of it movie , you would n’t have been able-bodied to do it . And if we did n’t have the experience of being stunt coordinator our own self , we belike would n’t have capture it .
Erica Lee : Some things did n’t come out as good as we wanted them to be . What ’s interesting is the bike sequence in 3 with the swords . It ’s not that it did n’t follow out the way that we wanted , I think it ’s a very visually effect - heavy succession , which is not typically what we do . And I think that we struggled sort of meet that into the movie and having it work out the direction that some of the other sequence did .
The Future of John Wick
Five movies and one television series in, what will the next 10 years of John Wick bring?
From the World of John Wick : Ballerina , the first spinoff feature of speech film , is scheduled to release in theaters June 6 , 2025 and may help set what the future of theJohn Wickfranchise face like . star Ana de Armas , Ballerinatakes place between the events ofJohn Wick : Chapter 3andChapter 4 , allow Keanu Reeves to reelect in a supporting role .
Also in development is aspinoff feature for Donnie Yen ’s Caine characterwho was acquaint inChapter 4 , and we know there are discussions for others as well . It was no coincidence thatChapter 4 , which was by far the most successful , introduce so many novel reference and locations right for geographic expedition .
" I just think that there ’s a universe rich of stories , and I think it can go a lot of unlike ways,“David Leitch secernate us on his mentation about the next 10 years ofJohn Wick . “And I hope to see more of Keanu . "
Although John Wick : Chapter 4 had a unequivocal ending , this outre John Wick 5 theory somehow perfectly explicate how Keanu Reeves ' character payoff .
We asked David what he thought of the outlandish fan theory affect Keanu Reeve ’s John Wick take back in a more supernatural - leaningChapter 5that could see him fighting his way out of netherworld . To David , this is"a slight far - fetched,“but adds,“I would never say never with Chad and Basil and Keanu are make believe those decisions now . "
David Leitch : But search , I am so game to see him back , and I ’m certain there ’s a beautiful Unforgiven reading of this motion picture too , where he ’s put the torpedo back on one last sentence or whatever . As an hearing phallus on Four , I loved it . And as my friend , who one of my good friends , directed the picture show , Chad , I ’m such a huge sports fan of it . I think they made the right choice . And yeah , it ’s movies and if citizenry require to go back and recite more floor in that , we ’ll find a way to make the story happen .
Leitch also says"I say never say never"to whether he ’d devolve himself to direct anotherJohn Wick .
David Leitch : I ’m such a fan of that character and I love John so much , and I roll in the hay work with Keanu and it would be awesome . But again , I do n’t think about it often , but if I did , of course , yes . If it was the proper story and I ’m the correct person to order it , certain .
" That ’s a great question,“ponders Erica Lee when postulate the same head . “I mean , obviously I ’d be intimate more spinoffs and TV shows and exploring all different field . "
Erica Lee : First and first off , I ’d love John Wick 5 and figuring out what that movie looks like and what the history is and how we take the franchise to the next point . I recall we set this taproom so high in 4 and we leave it all on the tabular array . I say we sting the theater down when we make the movie . So I reckon to pull it all together , it has to be a great idea and the stars have to align , and there ’s a spate of pressure to get that right wing . So that ’s what I ’m most promising and unrestrained and nervous about .
Is he stagnant ? I think that that ’s subjective . peradventure there ’s nothing in that grave . I ’m a manufacturer , so we ’re bright for more .
More John Wick 10th Anniversary Interviews Here
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Cast
John Wick is the first entry in the action - thriller franchise direct by Chad Stahelski and asterisk Keanu Reeves . Retired hitman John is brought back into the field when the dog his late deceased biography leave him is murdered . Full of furor and fit out with unparalleled combat skills , John begins to track down the one responsible for for the act of fury and put permissive waste to any who make bold to spoil his path , sending scare throughout the criminal underworld .
Images provided byLionsgate . Custom graphics blueprint bySaiful Creation(Instagram , Facebook , Behance ) .
