9/24/15 Update: Thunder Road Pictures revealed this week that "John Wick 2" begins production this fall. Keanu is back and the plot is under wraps, and Collider reports that Chad Stahelski will be back to direct.
I’m just going to come right out and say it: "John Wick" was the best action film of 2014. Yep, better than anything Marvel, or anyone else, produced. The film, from directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (who landed on our 20 Breakthrough Directors Of The Year list), wasn’t the most intellectually challenging, but it delivered on its promise: exciting, kinetic, and inventive action that was elevated by taking viewers into the comic book style underground world of assassins that have their own hotels to stay in and follow a strict code of ethics. The film is a ton a of fun, created the perfect vehicle for Keanu Reeves, and it looks like there will be more.
Chatting with Movies.com, the directorial duo confirm development has been started on a sequel, but right now it’s all about cracking the story. “We have ideas for days and without blinking twice we know we can outdo the action from the original,” Stahelski explained. “It’s the matter of story and how much you like the character. That’s always the most important. If there’s great action but you have a character that no one likes and doesn’t have charisma you’re not going to watch it. Look at any great action star, whether it’s Harrison Ford or Liam Neeson or Robert Downey Jr., pick a name, you love the guy first. Good action, bad action, you just love them in action. So we want to make sure we have a story and a character that everybody loves and then we’ll dress it with action that we promise will be awesome.”
Sounds good to us. For his part, Reeves is open to coming back too. "…I like playing John Wick. I like him. I’d like to see a little — yeah, what else does he do? I don’t know, I like his passion. I like his sensitivity, in a way. You know? And I’d be curious to see why he went to that dark side. Like, why did he [make] that choice? Why did he become ‘the guy who you send after the boogeyman.’ Why did he do that? Who is that guy?" he told Screen Rant last fall.
More John Wick? I’m in. And it looks like everyone else is too, so let’s hope this gets going sooner rather than later.