5 ways John Wick’s huge box-office success needs to inspire Hollywood

John Wick Chapter 4. put a button on Keanu Reeves’ assassin adventures for now, but the series isn’t slowing down: the fourthquel pulled in $73.5 million in the U.S. over its opening weekend, with a global haul of $137.5 million — a franchise best.

Still, Chad Stahelski, who directed all four installments of Wick, tells Polygon he’s done for now, with plans to move on to either a Ghost of Tsushima Movie, an take on Rainbow SixMichael B. Jordan (or a HighlanderA reboot could star Henry Cavill, a former Superman. As for Reeves, he’s set to appear in 2024’s John Wick spinoff BallerinaThe series is currently being canceled by Peacock, who has no immediate plans to continue it. Lionsgate and Peacock hope the new TV series will be a success. The ContinentalThe release is planned for later in this year. might satiate the audience’s hunger. The show will prequelize the movies by following a young version of Ian McShane’s Winston as he gets into the assassin hotelier game. That isn’t exactly Reeves back in the suit, but it’s something.

John Wick’s success raises obvious questions: Can Lionsgate lure Stahelski and Reeves back for more brain-melting choreographed gun-fu? Are they the only franchise that exists without them? We will have to wait how long John Wick 5.? But maybe the better question is: When is John Wick’s success going to make an impact on Hollywood? Are there John Wick-likes around? Is it the movie industry that blinds us with its singular vision of the world?

John WickObjectively altered action movies. Stahelski, along with David Leitch, made their directorial debut. They were able, through the help of a leading actor whose physical abilities could match their ambition, to bring to life their stunt and fight choreography skills, which they had honed at 87eleven Action Design. The success of the film and its sequels rubbed off on cinematic action — from James Bond movies to Marvel’s Shang-ChiWick-style hand–to-hand combat is still in fashion. John Wick’s enthusiastic reception also let Leitch put his stamp elsewhere: After John WickCharlize Theron was then plugged into the Wickian Atomic BlondeThen, he jumped in to spectacle Deadpool 2The Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, and the hand-to-hand-combat-heavy Bullet Train.

After six years, however, John Wick’s influence, I’m skeptical whether Hollywood studios have learned any lessons about why these movies rock, and why the audience clearly wants more. It’s one thing to have other action stars ape Reeves’ moves, but it’s another to map the franchise’s genome in order to establish a science of original and enthralling entertainment. More is happening beneath the surface John Wick Chapter 4.Keanu Reeves does more than run, shoot, and fall down stairs. With that in mind, here are five keys to the franchise’s success that could go easily overlooked as Hollywood attempts to find the next John WickYou either completely forget the assignment or you have a poor imagination. These thoughts are yours, bigwigs from the studio.

1. The future franchise could start in a small location

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

John Wick Chapter 4’s three-hour run time and enormous set pieces could fool misguided studio executives into thinking that big scope is the only avenue to big reward. This studio executive was clearly not able to see Reeves. 47 Ronin.

Because the industry didn’t respect their vision, Reeves & Stahelski sit at the top of the world. John WickThe film started out as a script from Derek Kolstad. Kolstad spent over 20 years trying and failing to make any kind of project work, even an R-rated movie about assassination. Producer Basil Iwanyk saw potential in Kolstad’s proto-John Wick Screenplay is then called ScornThe writer was enticed to avoid studios that would likely dump it in a heap of other spec acquisitions. Iwanyk however, wanted to actually make the film.

Stahelski, Leitch, and others realized that indie production was the best way to go. This is because no one from the established studio system believed in it before production began. It turned out that no one believed in the film after it had been completed. According to the tale, John Wick’s close-quarters action and empty-warehouse set pieces were nearly destined for the direct-to-video bin before Lionsgate swooped in as a distributor and put it in front of the audience at the annual Austin-based Fantastic Fest, where it blew the roof off the place.

This is a history that can be easily forgotten: John Wick It didn’t start out as a story about a man on the run, globe-trotting adventurer! Reeves’ fight against Adrianne Palaicki at his home is one of the main action scenes. It’s a li’l fight movie! Kolstad’s Star Wars 1977 is full on! The script flirts with a bigger mythology, but without investing too much. We now realize that there is still plenty of worlds to discover.

Lionsgate understands this model; the Twilight and Hunger Games series followed similar arcs, going from mid-budget thrillers to holiday-season-worthy tentpoles. It is not as common at other studios. It’s something that I often think about, and weep over. The Dark Tower. Stephen King began his book series as a simple, down-to-earth Western with some supernatural elements. Then it grew into an epic Lord of the Rings size. It was, however, the largest and most overstuffed movie version we could find. Why? Why? Justice LeagueIt was messy: The notion that it is simpler to fast-forward to the huge blockbuster payout of a franchise than doing the work. The John Wick movies suggest that studios can make bank in the long run, as long as they’re patient.

2. You can become a better stunt and fight director.

Photo: Eriekn Juragan/Netflix

All due respect. Underworld Total RecallLen Wiseman remake director, Why is Len Wiseman filming the John Wick spinoff Ballerina?

Stahelski repeatedly stated this throughout years of John Wick movie press coverage: John Wick films are based on his unique approach to story and action. There is no gear-shifting — in John Wick Chapter 4.The plot progresses with each punch and every shot fired. Stuntmen and directors who are action-oriented work in this way. So why haven’t more of them graduated to the studio big leagues? There is no better person to produce the next generation of John Wick-esque films.

While there has been some action movie attempts in John Wick’s style, directors tend to be from other genres. Netflix’s Kate, which coupled Mary Elizabeth Winstead with 87North’s action style, was directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, a career visual effects supervisor from films like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. His prior credit record was The Huntsman: Winter’s War. No oneThe video, in which Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, and Bob Odenkirk teamed up to create a Regular Guy performing some skull-cracking was directed by Ilya Naguller. Naishuller has previously directed music videos for other people. You are wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov. Both of these guys are competent, but not known for their action — not like a handful of prominent directors currently working in the direct-to-video/streaming sector.

Stahelski did the same. John WickAnd eventually, had a fully studio-backed canvas to work on. Chap 2 and beyond, maybe it’s time for Timo Tjahjanto (We are all awake for the night), Jesse V. Johnson (Avengement), J.J. Perry (Day Shift), M.J. Bassett (Rogue), Veronica Ngo (FurriesOr Dolph Lundgren, if you prefer.Castle FallsTo get more credit. Tjahjanto has the potential to be a big star with his a. Busan to Train remake, and Johnson’s latest, One RangerAn action spy Western film called ‘The Spy Western . If Lionsgate is lucky, a action spy Western (???) starring Thomas Jane could be in theaters by 2023. I’m just saying, the masses would love a Scott Adkins/Isaac Florentine joint if they knew one existed.

It is obvious that there is talent out there. Stahelski was a professional. Ric Roman Waugh used his stunt skills to achieve similar success in the partnership with Gerard Butler Angel Has Fallen. Sam Hargrave, an 87North graduate, did it all for Netflix Extracting. There’s no real reason a commercial director needs to make a Mortal Kombat movie when there are Action People right in front of us.

3. Skills required to be Mint Movie Stars

Keanu Reeves is not the hot new thing in Hollywood — he’s been working steadily since the mid-’80s, evolving from an indie darling to “the Matrix guy.” No one’s ever likely to replace or replicate him.

Weirdly, “time-honored movie star getting back in the saddle” is a theme of the 2023 blockbuster slate. Later this year, we’ll see Nic Cage in Renfield, Vin Diesel in Quick XHarrison Ford, Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Michael Keaton in The FlashOptimus Prime and Optimus Alpha in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The old guys. Many old men.

Where’s the fresh blood? Is anyone willing to put in the effort and time necessary to be an effective thespian or a professional martial artist? Is Hollywood actually looking for them? Although 87North went the extra mile to train new stunt performers, the studios should look beyond Hot People to identify physical actors who are capable of doing impressive enough work to make them stand out. This was once understood by Hollywood: Gene Kelly, who brought dancing to the screen, figured out how movie stars work. A tentpole film could make anyone a star. Studio owners should rely on their natural abilities and dedicated training to make them stand out, rather than relying on gravity-defying effects. People come to see impressive stunts and practical fights. Everything at Once, a Best Picture winner completely built off Michelle Yeoh’s ability to slap.

4. Films have the potential to create worlds.

Lionsgate Image

It’s obvious, but it bears repeating: Movies don’t require books, comic books, TV shows, or toy lines as a foundation. They DoYou need to have a firm foundation of reality.

There is a past, present, and future swirling around John Wick when we meet him in his first movie, but it makes almost no sense — thank god. Kolstad provides some explanations, but it leaves much to the imagination. He focuses instead on the visceral delights of the trip. That’s partially because he started small (see No. 1 above), but it’s also about having faith that the audience isn’t dumb, and doesn’t really need every tiny thing explained. The topic of how gets a lot of reactions. John Wick Chapter 4. treats the greater mythology of the Continental, the High Table, and the ritualistic duel that drives the main plot — some praise the careful bricklaying, others complain it’s become too dense. The movie is based entirely on no real facts, so both criticisms look like wins.

5. Camera + light = Action!

Murray Close/Lionsgate

As the Marvel machine combats bad PR over abused VFX pipelines and homogenous filmmaking, the John Wick movies are over in their corner triumphing off a look and feel that stems from Stahelski’s vision. The takeaway from his mountains of press is that he’s been left alone to devise the coolest action imaginable, and works with writers to organically seed it into each ratcheting-up of the story. Polygon heard him tell Polygon how he came up with the idea for an action. Chap. 4He just Googled cool ideas and went online. Movies!

Director with vision has been sucked into the pre-visualization, packaged spectacle movies of yesteryear. It seems that there is a lack in faith that any filmmaker can make a film of the right scale to reach all four quadrants. Yet Stahelski is out there making the screen pop with neon, shadows, and slick camera movements, thanks in large part to his cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, who happens to be Guillermo del Toro’s go-to guy as well. This is the first John Wick established the skeleton for how these movies would play out, but in the sequels, Laustsen was given room to cement John Wick’s palette, and now it’s part of the sell.

John Wick movies promise that viewers will be able to see the action clearly, and that it’ll be stitched together with percussive editing. Wick will pound away at goons as Tyler Bates’ electronic score pounds away at viewers. The action can swing from the bright whites of New York City’s Oculus to the gold-streaked blacks of Rome’s underbelly, but the tone will be consistently operatic. The John Wick team invented a cinematic language, and one that isn’t about shooting the longest continuous takes just because.

As directors who have worked through the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s often bemoan, the missing element in so many of today’s movies is time. The time it takes to bring the movie to life, block out any unforeseen problems, and then to polish each performance. The release dates are set many years ahead of time. Time is now separated from it. Postproduction allows creatives time to rediscover the movie. Maybe the John Wick sequels have been shot under the gun for not enough money, but they don’t look like it, in that they don’t look like anything else playing in theaters. Stahelski, Reeves appear to have what they desire. Few filmmakers do these days, apart from a privileged few who’ve ascended to producer status as well. Steven Spielberg and Jordan Peele are two examples. We can still imagine a world in which John Wick-like films are making a bigger impact on audiences. This is because filmmakers are allowed to create the movies they love, not the ones that studio analysts or AI algorithms think everybody wants to see.

I won’t hold my breath!