It was ten years ago today, that the first John Wick hit theaters and began to play. While the first Keanu Reeves starring, Chad Stahelski directed, and Derek Kolstad written movie flew under the radar at the box office only grossing $43M stateside and $86M worldwide, the R-rated action pic ala the original Austin Powers boomed on home entertainment and mushroomed into a mega franchise across four films for Lionsgate grossing $1.02 billion.
Lionsgate has several festivities planed including special events, anniversary screenings, new experiences, and new collectible merchandise, culminating in the release of Ballerina: From the World of John Wick next year on June 6.
Keep reading below. “John Wick is a wonderful role and the first film was an extraordinary experience,” said Reeves. “The combination of character, story, so completely intertwined and expressed through Chad and Dave’s action design, was very special.” “Any artist pushes themselves to go further and outdo themselves,” said Stahelski. “What I hope we’ve shown with John Wick and its successive chapters is that stunt artists are, in fact, artists.
I hope that is what makes our films stand out.” “Keanu Reeves created an unforgettable character as John Wick,” says Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk, who has produced all four films in the franchise. “His performance as a man capable of almost anything except putting his past behind him is one that only Keanu could deliver, and I think it’s the reason why other incredible actors—Ian McShane, Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne, Common, Ruby Rose, Anjelica Huston, Asia Kate Dillon, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, the irreplaceable Lance Reddick, to name just a few—have
Read more on deadline.com