Invited to a panel at the International Mediterranean Film Festival in Malta, John Wick creator Derek Kolstad spoke about the process of creating the franchise and the contribution of its lead actor Keanu Reeves.
John is a simple man. Still mourning his wife, he abandoned his past as a hitman to cherish his dog Daisy and pamper his classic car. But when a gang of thugs breaks into his home to steal his prized Ford Mustang and, most of all, kill his hound, John has only one thing on his mind: revenge.
You’ve probably heard the story of John Wick, the franchise led at arm’s length by the impeccable and lethal Keanu Reeves. With four films (and even a spin-off series, The Continental) released over seven years, the saga generated more than a billion dollars in revenue.
From just over $86 million for the first film to over $431 million for John Wick 4, which hits our screens in March 2023, it shows how the saga has become a martingale for its production studio Lionsgate over the years.
“Hey, do you want to meet Keanu?”
Most recently, Derek Kolstad, the screenwriter of the saga, who was invited as part of the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta, spoke about the origins of the adventure, whose words are conveyed by Hollywood Reporter. He was nursing a Chihuahua-Corgi mix dog sitting on his lap when a nightmare scenario occurred to him: “What would I do if someone tried to kill that damn dog?”
“The script was written for an actor like (Robert De Niro), who was just over 70 years old at the time, and the dog was 14 years old. It was a gift from his wife, and the same story repeats itself, but it was an old dog.” Kolstad’s story.
“I think the death toll in the first version of the scenario was about 11 people. Then Keanu Reeves’ team called me and said, “Hey, do you want to meet Keanu?” I said, “Yes.” So Keanu and I saw each other two weekend nights for about three or four months.
I remember he told me: “I’ll play with him when I’m 35.” As soon as he said that, I knew we couldn’t have a 15 year old dog. He turned into a puppy and from that point on it was just a matter of going with the flow, getting to the end of the process and letting the best idea win. The best idea wins.”
Kolstad also recalled in 2022 (via Variety) that the very name of the John Wick franchise belongs to Keanu Reeves: “The only reason (the film) is called ‘John Wick’ is because Keanu kept calling it ‘John Wick.’ The marketing guys said, “Dude, that’s $4 or $5 million in free advertising at this point, so instead of Scorn it’ll be John Wick”; Contempt is the name given to the first scenario of the future saga.