John Wick was a fun, if not shallow, revenge movie that seems to have created a cult following after its release in theaters last year. The action flick starring Keanu Reeves made a decent bit of money and was infinitely better than his previous effort, 47 Ronin. Despite the fact that Keanu usually doesn’t do sequels unless they contain the word “Bill” and/or “Ted” in the title, (we are ignoring the existence of the Matrix sequels) it looks like there maybe hope we’re going to get more of the ex-hitman shooting up the screen one more time. That’s right: John Wick 2 is in development.
Directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch talked to Movies.com recently and spoke of their future plans for the unlikely action hero:
“We have ideas for days and without blinking twice we know we can outdo the action from the original,” Stahelski said. “It’s the matter of story and how much you like the character. That’s always the most important. If there’s great action but you have a character that no one likes and doesn’t have charisma you’re not going to watch it. Look at any great action star, whether it’s Harrison Ford or Liam Neeson or Robert Downey Jr., pick a name, you love the guy first. Good action, bad action, you just love them in action. So we want to make sure we have a story and a character that everybody loves and then we’ll dress it with action that we promise will be awesome.” “You gotta go on a journey with the guy and have to like the guy,” Leitch added.
So basically you’re saying there’s a chance…
Of course, developing and actual execution of the movie is a whole other story. They did not really go into story or any other massive details short of admitting there needs to be a purpose in the character and story. Basically what we do know is they have action set pieces in mind that they say will surpass the original’s. Of course, and probably more importantly, Keanu hasn’t signed on so who’s to say that this plan will actually come to fruition. We do know that he has gone on record in saying he likes the directors (having worked together during The Matrix days) so we can be hopeful. Of course, they could try to keep costs down and shove a random person into the role and make it straight to VOD, which would be unfortunate as the audience would not be as big as it could be. Of course, just as the directors said, they have to find a way to make the character compelling because it’s not like his zombie dog will rise up to get killed again. Hopefully if this comes true, the motivation remains fresh and they flesh out the character more. Unlike, say, Taken 2. Or Taken 3. Or any Liam Neeson movie at this movie where he plays essentially the same character.
By the way, John Wick is out on DVD/Blu-ray and you should totally watch it. It’s awesome and a fun mindless movie to watch as Brian Kronner can attest to.
Images: Lionsgate
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