John Wick was not a film made with a sequel in mind. However, that all changed after the film arrived in cinemas back in 2014. Within a matter of weeks, John Wick was the name on every movie-goer’s lips. Not only did it signal the dawn of an exciting new era in action cinema, it also heralded the triumphant return of Keanu Reeves. Make no mistake: John Wick was the best Keanu movie since The Matrix. And, much like The Matrix, fans wanted more. More action, more of the John Wick mythology, and more Keanu Reeves. Within a few months of John Wick’s release, co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch were given the green light to begin work on a sequel. Original screenwriter Derek Kolstad returned to pen the screenplay.
By the time John Wick: Chapter 2 hit theaters in February 2017, Leitch had opted to pursue other projects. The pressure was on Stahelski, now directing solo, to up the ante with bigger and better action set pieces than ever before. But Reeves also had his work cut out for him to better the first movie. Many would have crumbled under the pressure – but not Keanu. John Wick Chapter 2 debuted to rave reviews with the film earning praise for its action sequences, visual style and, most importantly, the performance of its central star. Reeves had pulled it out of the bag again – but it hadn’t been easy.
They Almost Gave John Wick A Daughter
Several possible storylines were discussed before the creative team behind John Wick Chapter 2 settled on the idea of the legendary assassin returning to the fold to repay a debt. According to a Screen Junkies interview with Stahelski and Leitch, one possible scenario would have seen Wick come to the rescue of an estranged daughter.
The premise would have posed a unique challenge to Reeves who had rarely, if ever, been cast in a paternal role of this kind. Ultimately, however, Reeves and the creative team behind the film opted against what was, in truth, a cliched action movie trope.
The Idea For A Sequel Began With A Vision Of Keanu Reeves As Bruce Lee
The seeds for a John Wick sequel were sewn from a single idea that popped into the head of director Chad Stahelski – a vision of Keanu Reeves stalking an unseen enemy through a room of mirrors in homage to the Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon.
Stahelski told The Verge: “Didn't even have a story yet, but I just went, ‘Yeah we're going to re-do Enter the Dragon. We're going to do Bruce Lee and Mr. Han in the mirror room.’” That's where it all came from. So, I was like, "How can I make a mirror room better?"
Keanu Reeves Performed Even More Of The Film’s Stunts
Reeves did the bulk of his own stunt work on John Wick. However, the creative team behind John Wick: Chapter 2 were determined to up the ante for the sequel. The result was not only more training in pre-production but more involvement in the movie’s intense stunt work.
For Stahelski, it was about making the film look as real as possible to the fans and a cut above other action movies of the time. “We just took it to a higher level,” Stahelski told Wired. “I want the audience to know it's Keanu doing 98 per cent of this stuff."
He Wrecked Four Classic Mustangs Making The movie
John Wick: Chapter 2 begins with the titular assassin reducing his beloved 1969 Ford Mustang to a mangled wreck during a thrilling opening set-piece in a warehouse. What many fans may not have realized was that it was, in fact, Reeves behind the wheel for most of the action.
Stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott confirmed as much during an interview with Vanity Fair, describing Reeves as "one of the best actor-drivers in the business”. The carnage wasn’t cheap though - Reeves wrecked all four of the production’s prized Mustangs. “We lost one on like the first take,” Stahelski later told loaded.
Keanu Reeves Trained For Three Months To Prepare For The Role
Reeves spent four months learning Judo and Ju-Jitsu for John Wick, but the sequel was even more intense. “We had Keanu train for four months and expanded the type of weapons he uses,” Stahelski told Wired.
“We went deeper into that gun work and mix of jiu-jitsu and judo and used longer takes.” Stunt co-ordinator JJ Perry told The Verge: “When we're training Keanu in those three and a half months of prep, we've already come up with, let's say, 30 moves that we love.”
“So we train Keanu on those, even if we don't know where they're going to go.”
Keanu Reeves Came Up With The Idea For The Gianna Bath Scene
Work on John Wick Chapter 2 reached an impasse when it came to the scene in which Wick must take out Gianna D’Antonio - Stahelski was unsure how to bring it to life. “Something wasn’t feeling right,” he told Empire.
Reeves came up with the solution: Gianna should end her own life in a disturbing sequence in which she strips off, gets in a bath and ends it all.
"I thought, that's pretty hardcore. That's a little creepy. I couldn't get it out of my head,” Stahelski said. “It fitted the Wick world – that's just the way these people live.”
Keanu Reeves Struck Up A Bond With His Dog On Set
John Wick’s actions in the first film may have been motivated by his love for an adorable puppy dog but in real life Reeves enjoyed a closer relationship with the dog in the sequel.
Reeves revealed to MTV he bonded with Burton, the pit bull cast as Bubba in the film, regularly feeding him, taking him for walks and generally chilling in a bid to make their relationship seem real on screen.
Burton was originally a rescue dog, who ended up landing the job on account of his sad eyes. Stahelski described him as "the most gentle personality you could imagine for a pit-bull."
Chapter 2 Has John's Highest Kill Count
John Wick has offed a staggering 299 people over the course of the original trilogy of movies. That’s more than both Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise and Jason Voorhees in the Friday The 13th films.
However, the hitman is undoubtedly at his deadliest in John Wick Chapter 2. The Baba Yaga or boogeyman takes out 128 assorted henchmen and underworld figures over the course of the second film.
That’s a major step up from the 77 taken out in the first film, almost double, in fact. It’s also significantly more than the 94 offed in John Wick 3: Parabellum.
Keanu Spent Months Training On How To Reload
Stahelski was determined to make John Wick Chapter 2 as authentic as possible. That meant real reloading. It’s a bugbear for the stuntman-turned-director how in many action movies, characters don’t run out of bullets. “The reason Hollywood doesn't do reloads much is because it's difficult and it makes people look goofy,” he told Empire.
Stahelski wanted Wick running out of ammo and reloading on screen. That meant more training – but it paid off. “Keanu does every kind of reload imaginable. He's actually loading a shotgun in a shot with no cuts. Sounds fun. Sounds easy. That's five months of shooting."
The Final Showdown Was Choreographed To Vivaldi
The climactic battle was a mammoth undertaking for the creative team behind John Wick, who decided to choreograph the action to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It was a simple enough idea: all of the percussion was removed from the original music with gunshots designed to feature in their place.
“John’s gun becomes the percussion,” Stahelski said to Empire. “The composer was like, ‘you have to choreograph it and edit it, and your edit would have to be locked. You can change the tempo a little bit, but you're pretty locked in.’” Several months of filming and editing later, they had their scene.