The John Wick franchise is now mentioned in the same breath as legendary action movies like James Bond and Mission Impossible – but the original film was very nearly vastly different than the story we love today. The directors recently revealed that they considered not killing off the puppy in its opening scene, a choice that would have fundamentally reshaped Keanu Reeves ’ character. In a new interview on its tenth anniversary, John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch reflected on the movie’s uncertain beginnings in 2014 when they were sure it would be sent straight to video with little fanfare.
After struggling to secure placement, they had little hope that the pre-screening would earn much audience approval, they told Business Insider this week. To their surprise, the audience bought into the story quickly and screamed their approval as the action unfolded. ‘Keanu turned to me and said, “Hey, I think they like it!”’ Stahelski recalled.
‘We were blown away.’ The film opens memorably, setting the tone for the entire franchise (which now has four installments), with former hitman Reeves mourning the death of his wife and bonding with the puppy she left him as her final act. When a member of the Russian mob kills the puppy, Reeves dons a now-iconic black suit and sets out on a bloody quest for revenge.
It’s been a long-held trope of cinema that if you introduce the audience to a dog and then kill that dog off, you had better have a pretty good re.