Chad Stahelski spent years as Keanu Reeves' stunt double on The Matrix trilogy. When they made John Wick, he knew exactly what Keanu could do, so they built a film around it.
Reeves trained for four months before shooting. Judo, jiu-jitsu, firearms with LA SWAT and Navy SEALs, stunt driving. He performs about 90 percent of what you see on screen.
The long, wide-angle takes that made John Wick feel different from every other action movie were partly a budget problem. Investors missed payments. Keanu put in his own money. With limited resources, they had to hold shots longer and keep the camera back. That ended up defining the whole style.
By August 2014, it had no distributor. Studios passed because the directors were untested. It nearly went straight to video.
People on Backlot are rewatching this one. Good time to put it on again.
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