‘John Wick’ Producers Recall Keanu Reeves “Stood Up” For Puppy Death Scene

deadline.com:

After four films, one spin-off series and more to come, it’s hard to imagine John Wick happily driving off into the sunset with his puppy.

Marking the hit action film’s 10th anniversary, producers David Leitch and Chad Stahelski revealed that star Keanu Reeves helped them fight to kill off the titular character’s furry friend in the first installment, sparking his franchise-long fight for revenge. “We were told, ‘It’s bad luck.’ ‘It’s bad juju,'” Leitch explained to Business Insider. “‘It’s Old Yeller, you can’t do this!’ ‘No one will want to see this on screen; you’re going to alienate the audience.’ And I’m like, ‘We’re going to execute people at close range; killing the dog is one thing, but what about the brutal massacre of all these human beings?

Are they going to be able to accept that?’ “They didn’t understand that we were making a genre movie. We are genre fans to the core, and we know those hard-boiled moments are what make memorable moments,” he added.

In John Wick, Reeves stars as the legendary assassin who has retired to marry the love of his life. But when thugs still his prized car and kill the puppy his late wife gave him, Wick sets out on a bloody quest for vengeance, which pits him against the criminal enterprise to which he once belonged.