‘John Wick: Chapter 4’: Read The Screenplay That Got Keanu Reeves And Company Back In Action
08.12.2023 - 23:43
/ deadline.com
Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with action franchise smash John Wick: Chapter 4. The fourth installment in the Chad Stahelski-directed series was penned by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch (based on characters created by Derek Kolstad) in their first turn with Baba Yaga — even if the titular revenge artist, played by Keanu Reeves, speaks only 380 words of dialogue.
From Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven, John Wick: Chapter 4 sees the ex-hitman uncover a path to defeating crime lord council The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe, and forces that turn old friends into foes.
The film is the highest-grossing of the franchise at over $440 million in global box office, and in May pushed the four-title series across the $1 biillon mark worldwide. It is also the best-reviewed film of the franchise at 94% certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
While Stahelski was initially satisfied to end the franchise with the third installment, he came around to the idea of a fourth following a conversation with Reeves in a Japanese whiskey bar, where they decided to tackle a version of John Wick in samurai-movie style.
The screenwriting process began that day, and the hope was to go for a different feel than ever before, very much leaning into an international story.
In discussing the process of figuring out action sequences, Stahelski, at Deadline’s Contenders: Film Los Angeles event in November, said the team knew early on that they wanted to incorporate “this Sisyphean metaphor of stairs” into the visual storytelling, as well as a chase sequence done in the round. “We always