Written by Derek Kolstad — who’s currently producing spinoff “The Continental” — the “John Wick” script was initially sent to Keanu Reeves before the actor made some notes suggesting his “Matrix” stunt coordinators David Leitch and Chad Stahelski for the project. The pair would ultimately direct the 2014 movie after convincing Reeves and producer Basil Iwanyk they were the right men for the job. But before any of that could happen, Reeves himself would have to agree to star.
In an interview with The Action Elite, the 58-year-old (if you can believe it) explained how the character of Wick and the film’s tone were what won him over:
“I guess it starts with the script and the character but also what the story is. Who is involved with it matters too and it all comes down to personal taste. For this, I really liked the character of John Wick and I really liked the tone as well where it’s this real world aspect mixed in with this underworld of criminals. I like the rules and the code; it just had something fresh about it.”
Arguably what was, and what remains, most fresh about “John Wick” was the hyper-choreographed, almost balletic fight scenes, which made use of a kind of gun-fu-on-steroids style that built on John Woo’s signature on-screen combat. But there was another element to the script that caught Reeves’ eye …
