*** Welcome to piglix ***

John Wick (film series)

John Wick
John Wick TeaserPoster.jpg
Theatrical poster for John Wick (2014)
Created by Chad Stahelski
David Leitch
Derek Kolstad
Original work John Wick (2014)
Owner Summit Entertainment
Films and television
Film(s)
Games
Video game(s) John Wick Chronicles
Audio
Soundtrack(s) John Wick: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

John Wick is a series of action films directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch that follow the eponymous hero, a retired but deadly hitman seeking vengeance, portrayed by Keanu Reeves.

The series began in 2014 with the release of John Wick, which was written by Derek Kolstad and produced by Basil Iwanyk. It was followed by the sequel John Wick: Chapter 2, which was released in 2017. The two films were successful both critically and commercially. The first film grossed $88.8 million worldwide and holds an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the second has a rating of 89% and has grossed $171.2 million worldwide.

The premise for John Wick was conceived by screenwriter Derek Kolstad who began work on a treatment about a retired contract killer coming out to seek vengeance, entitled Scorn. After one month of work, he had completed the first draft of the screenplay and once he had addressed several issues he pitched the script to various clients, garnering at least three offers. When he first started thinking about writing the script, Kolstad was influenced by film-noir classics and the themes of revenge and the antihero and the occurrences of what may play out if "The worst man in existence found salvation […] When the source of his salvation is ripped from him […] Do the gates of Hades open?" For Kolstad, both Alistair MacLean and Stephen King were influences in the creating of the story of John Wick in terms of characterisation and world-building, stating, "[…] MacLean could build a world, and King could surprise you by what the main character truly was capable of."

On December 3, 2012, it was announced that Thunder Road Pictures had bought the script with discretionary funds, with Kolstad agreeing due to Thunder Road's plan to make the film straight away. When Basil Iwanyk head of Thunder Road Pictures had first read Kolstad's original screenplay, he was immediately drawn to the main character of Wick, stating, "The tone of the script was subversive and really fun." He also admired the emotional weight and action theme of the piece. After Thunder Road had optioned the script, Kolstad spent additional months refurbishing the script with them. In the original script, the character of John Wick was written with "a man in his mid-sixties" to play the role, given the title character’s fabled reputation as a revered and respected assassin. However, Iwanyk was of the belief that this was irrelevant and bent the original vision ever so slightly, stating, "Instead, we decided to look for someone who is not literally older, but who has a seasoned history in the film world."


...
Wikipedia

...