'John Wick' 2 Movie News, Update: Sequel in the Works
Lionsgate recently announced that a sequel of Keanu Reeves' action-thriller movie "John Wick" is in the pipeline. The announcement was made by CEO Jon Feltheimer last Feb. 6, during a meeting about the company's earnings as of end December 2014. "John Wick" was released in October and has earned $43 million in the U.S. and $35 million worldwide. It also fared well in ancillary markets.
Feltheimer told Variety that "we see 'John Wick' as a multiple-title action franchise."
In an earlier report in Empire Online, prior to the announcement, the film's directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch already had some ideas about the sequel. Stahelski claims that they can "outdo the action from the original" but says that what is more important is "the matter of story and how much you like the character."
According to him, they want to make sure they "have a story and a character that everybody loves that everybody loves, and then we'll dress it with action that we promise will be awesome."
Stahelski and Leitch are guaranteed to know about action, as both were former stuntmen who made their directorial debut with "John Wick."
"John Wick" was written by Derek Kolstad and it was reported that he will write the sequel as well. The first movie starred Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, Adrienne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane. It is not known if Keanu Reeves will reprise his role in the sequel or any of original cast are returning.
In the first movie, Wick is forced back into his old ways as a lethal assassin after the death of his wife and an unfortunate series of events involving the Russian mob. The setting is New York City. It was released in October 2014.
Lionsgate has not announced the release date of the sequel.