Summary
TheJohn Wickfranchise came out of nowhere to become a hit, and it will be returning for a fifth movie. The original film’s director also recently admitted that the 2014 film was very different when he saw the first draft.
Chad Stahelski is the director of the first fourJohn Wickmovies. He will also return to helmJohn Wick 5. In a recent interview, he opened up about the movie series and admitted that it was written differently before he joined on board. Apparently, Stahelski made some changes that contributed to its massive success, resulting in four sequels and multiple spin-offs likeAna de Armas’Ballerina(2024) and the limited seriesThe Continental(2024). TheJohn Wickfranchise has also expanded into gaming withJohn Wick Chronicles(2017), a VR shooter experience, andJohn Wick Hex(2019), a strategy-based action game focusing on Wick’s methodical combat style.
Stahelski sat down for an interview with ComicBook.com to promote the new documentaryWick Is Pain. During the chat, he recounted howJohn WickstarKeanu Reevesasked him to read the script and offer his expertise. According to Stahelski, the original title was reportedlyScorn,and Wick only killed about two to three people. He said it was “very contained” and even likened it to the “Cold War.” Stahelski told Reeves that he had no problem helping with the project, but that they didn’t really need his expertise or his whole team, because it would cost so much, and that was when Reeves offered him to direct the film. Stahelski said:
Like, it’s not that kind of movie where you need, like, our whole team and cost you millions of dollars.' He’s like, ‘Well, what if you direct it?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I don’t think there’s a lot of second unit here. Like, you know what I mean? It’s one little car thing.’ He’s like, ‘No, no direct the movie.’
John Wick, starring Reeves, follows a hitman who left the criminal underworld but finds himself being drawn back into the past he wanted to leave behind after an unfortunate event. In the movie, Wick is a renowned assassin known as “the Baba Yaga,” and he has killed countless people, a major detour from the original draft. Whatever Stahelski ultimately changed seems to work because theJohn Wickfranchise is a megahit.
Reeves was clearly right to approach Stahelski forJohn Wick. Stahelski was also a stunt person and martial artist before he started directing movies and was even Reeves' stunt double inThe Matrix. So, yes, he was the best person to improve its action sequences, and Reeves knew it, considering their working history. Stahelski’s background in stunt choreography was obvious in the film’s high-octane action scenes.
As for the changes Stahelski made to the original draft, they were meant to improve the storyline. For instance, it was reportedly his idea to mythologize Wick as Baba Yaga, a legendary assassin feared in the underworld, because it solidified his reputation. Initially, he was written as a standard hitman, and the plot was a simple revenge story, but the films showed a much more complex narrative. There is no doubt that Stahelski is just meant to directJohn Wick,and fans can’t wait to seeJohn Wick 5, which will reportedly have an entirely “new story.”
