FILM · 2014 · USA
John Wick
- Directed by
- Chad Stahelski
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Studio
- 87Eleven, DefyNite Films, MJW Films
188 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
Ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
Summary: TMDB
17 Facts From the Making of John Wick
- #045
Contains a major spoiler — show
The first version of the script was titled "Scorn" and, though similar, was very different from the final film. For example, John was originally a much older character, in his seventies, had no dialogue in the first 25 pages, and his dog was actually eighteen years old. As in the final film, the dog was the last gift from his dying wife, and after the dog is killed Wick launches his revenge attack. The body count was much lower; in this first draft six to twelve people died.
- #080
Eva Longoria made more than $12 million from this film and, more than 10 years after the over $6 million she put in to save it, she is still receiving checks. In her view, her only mistake was not doing the sequels. It emerged that Longoria quietly stepped in to cover the film's $6 million financing gap less than 24 hours before production would have shut down completely. Without Longoria's contribution in saving the original film, the "John Wick" series would not exist.
- #095
Derek Kolstad completed the first draft of the screenplay in just one month.
- #127
Kevin Nash plays a large Russian thug. He also appeared in The Punisher (2004), though his lines were cut in post-production in that film.
- #155
Screenwriter Derek Kolstad wrote the spec script that became John Wick, titled Scorn, over four days in either 2012 or 2013, drawing inspiration from two revenge films he considered poor.
- #157
Kolstad chose the murder of John Wick's dog as the event that pulls him back into his former life, preferring it to the familiar device of killing the protagonist's wife and family.
- #159
Kolstad included black comedy in the John Wick draft because he felt levity added to the characters' humanity, taking influence from silent comedy performers Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle.
- #160
Kolstad's favorite animated television series, among them Rick and Morty and SpongeBob SquarePants, also influenced the John Wick draft.
- #161
After receiving feedback from family and agents, Kolstad made minor changes to the John Wick spec script, which was then put out for sale.
- #162
Film producer Basil Iwanyk was developing projects for Warner Bros. Pictures through his studio Thunder Road Films when he read Kolstad's spec script for John Wick.
- #163
Basil Iwanyk wanted more autonomy to develop independent films rather than only sourcing scripts, and he focused on action films that could be made on relatively low budgets.
- #164
The deal for the John Wick script was completed in February 2013.
- #165
Keanu Reeves was drawn to John Wick by the interplay between the real world and the underworld, as well as the emotional bond between John and his wife.
- #166
Some directors passed on John Wick because the concept struck them as a typical Keanu Reeves action film.
- #167
While negotiating his involvement in John Wick, Keanu Reeves sent the script to Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who had worked with him as stunt coordinators and performers on the first three Matrix films and later projects.
- #169
Keanu Reeves recommended Chad Stahelski and David Leitch to choreograph or direct John Wick's action sequences, believing their style matched the script's tone.
- #170
Stahelski and Leitch wanted to direct John Wick themselves, and won Reeves's backing by pitching an assassin thriller with a realistic tone set in an otherworldly place where John was an urban legend. In May, Reeves was confirmed for the lead role and the pair were set to direct.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia John Wick (film) — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work