John Wick director Chad Stahelski says the original script only had 3 measly kills
Aux Features Film
More than anything, the three John Wick movies have proven that Mr. Wick is a guy who gets shit done, so it is wildly unfortunate for the many goons serving under the international assassin community’s most powerful figures that the shit he gets done almost always involves killing people—killing them, specifically. Apparently, though, there was once a time when John Wick was a little more toothless, at least in terms of the extremely efficient violence he tends to showcase in those movies (violence is bad and glorifying violence is also bad, but the John Wick movies thankfully take place in a cartoon universe where nothing really matters). Speaking with ComicBook.com, John Wick series director Chad Stahelski says the original script was significantly less violent, to the extent that he thinks “only three people” died in it and two of them were in a car crash. By comparison, ComicBook says the kill count in the final film is “somewhere around 80.”
Stahelski goes on to say that the original script was a “much more contained” story that was “very, very minimal,” but when he came on board he had the idea to turn it into a “fablestic kind of story” like Greek mythology that “wasn’t so grounded and gray.” As for the high body count, he says it wasn’t an intentional decision and has continued to not be intentional for the sequels, but it’s a side effect of the way the fight scenes are choreographed and the amount of “balletic” moves that Keanu Reeves makes as Wick. He says the choreography for fights and Reeves’ skill with martial arts and weapons have improved so much that, along with increasingly big set pieces, the amount of people being killed just naturally increases. “We just choreograph and it happens,” he adds, making the John Wick movies seem even more artisanal than they do onscreen.
We’ll get to see the Baba Yaga kill even more dudes when the series returns for its coronavirus-delayed fourth installment in 2022. (Again, violence is bad, but these dudes will probably have it coming.)
19 Comments
“As for the high body count, he says it wasn’t an intentional decision and has continued to not be intentional for the sequels”Is this one of those “the characters just wrote themselves!” kind of bullshit things? I mean you don’t film a movie with 80 kills without intending to have 80 kills in it. That kind of shit doesn’t happen in the editing room.
They killed a puppy so you don’t need to justify the murder ripples
A hound puppy may they all burn in movie hell.
seriously, the only weak spot in these films is they have moved away from the puppy and toward his love and bereavement for his wife. it makes his character more real but his behavior less relatable. killing that many people over a puppy? okay. killing that many people over unresolved grief? yeah man maybe take some big gold coins to a therapist!
As much as I adore the nightclub shootout — which for the record I think is a fucking piece of art — I would have loved to see this initial version, or at least seen the concept of it carry over into the film.
Maybe not only three kills, but at least reign in the shootout at the end of the film so it’s Keanu shooting a bunch of dudes in one or two rooms of instead of throughout the whole house so that it wasn’t such a . . . boring letdown?
*Rein in.
If they were going to film the original version, I think it would’ve been ill-suited for Keanu. Maybe someone slightly older who didn’t need the physicality required of an 80-kill movie but could carry the gravitas.
(I was gonna say… Clooney? Cruise? Except I just looked it up and Keanu is… FIFTY-SIX!? Jesus.)
Clooney: “Out of Sight”Cruise: “Collateral”
Keanu:
I get it. It’s gotta be a ton of fun shooting guns to practice for the role, and those are incredible digital muzzle flashes, but Reeves is more than able to fill the role, physically speaking.
Good job missing the point of the comment in its entirety.
Good job not appreciating some awesome shootouts.
Thank you for informing me that violence is bad, I would not have known otherwise.
The first Rambo film had 1 death. Which was someone falling out of a helicopter when it swerved and they weren’t secured.The book is was based on was a bloodbath, though and Rambo was the psychopathic villain of the piece.
The fact that you think Rambo is the villain in the book is unbelievably disturbing.
I had no idea Rambo was based on a book, what’s it called?
So more like Point Blank? (where Lee Marvin doesn’t actually kill anyone).
It’s a great idea, but I dunno how it’d play with modern audiences.
“John Wick” is such a stunt-coordinated masterpiece that I’m not sure it needed even more subtext.
Killing 80 characters on screen seems like the opposite of unintentional.
yeah and when the fights are extremely choreographed and half the script is people talking about how much of a killer this guy is, the idea that they aren’t intending a high body count is just laughable.
“3 lousy miracles”
One big thing that I appreciated about John Wick 2 was seeing him set up his escape route slash killing floor. I love the first movie, but seeing John be so methodical rather than just be on a spree? Real “this is my design” shit.