John Wick: Chapter 4
Short description
John Wick: Chapter 4 continues the story of a retired hitman who has been marked for death by the High Table, the criminal organization that governs the underworld. As the bounty on his head keeps rising, Wick finds a possible way to bring the High Table down. Earning his freedom, however, means going up against a new and well-connected adversary whose reach spans the globe and whose influence can turn former allies into enemies. The hunt moves through New York, Osaka, Paris and Berlin.
Chad Stahelski directed the film, his fourth entry in the series following John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Keanu Reeves returns in the title role, with Donnie Yen as Caine, Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis, Ian McShane as Winston, Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King and Lance Reddick as Charon. Michael Finch and Shay Hatten wrote the screenplay, and Stahelski produced with Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee. Around 31 cast members and 139 crew members are credited.
The film was released in March 2023 and runs 170 minutes. Made for about 100 million USD, it took roughly 447 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.6/10 from around 407,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7/10 from over 8,000 votes. A critics' rating of 8.2/10 from 385 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Throughout the entire film, Keanu Reeves’ character speaks only 380 words – the lowest number of lines for a lead actor in cinematic history.
- Chad Stahelski had no idea who Rina Sawayama was, stumbled upon one of her videos on 'YouTube', and decided that, being a pop artist and a dancer, she would fit the role of Akira perfectly. He called her and offered her the part within 24 hours.
- A trilogy was originally planned, but after the success of the first films, a decision was made to expand the universe.
- The filming of the ascent with a fight up the stairs took seven nights, sometimes in the rain, and at times filming had to be paused to allow ski lifts carrying tourists to pass. 35 stunt performers participated in the filming, and some of them were repeatedly thrown aside by Keanu Reeves’s character as he climbed. According to fight coordinator Scott Rogers' calculations, each stunt performer was “killed” on the steps five or six times.
- The role of Klaus is played by Sven Marquardt, who actually works as a bouncer at one of Berlin's establishments. The piercings and tattoos on his face are not the result of makeup; they are genuinely Marquardt's piercings and tattoos. (It was thanks to them that he gained fame throughout Europe.) He works as a bouncer at the “Berghain” nightclub on the outskirts of Berlin, which was previously a power plant. The building was converted into a club in the 2000s and is now one of the most famous establishments of its kind in the world. The building has many floors, each playing its own music, and numerous staircases. Marquardt decides who to let in and who not to, and it has happened that he has refused entry to visitors on the grounds that, in his opinion, they were not dressed, spoke, or even smiled appropriately. Conan O'Brien and Elon Musk have both been turned away at the door at one time or another.
- The desert scene at the beginning of the film was shot without scaling using digital technology. The characters of Keanu Reeves and George Georgiou meet near a cliff where David Lean (1908-1991) filmed “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962).
- The call sign of the radio station sounds like “USYA.” Usya is a genre of Chinese fantasy that focuses on showcasing martial arts.
- According to director Chad Stahelski, he and the film's crew approached the creation of fight scenes as choreography and complex dances. The goal of this approach was to create organic interaction between the actors and adapt the scenes to their skills. Chad states that he first encountered such an approach while working on 'The Matrix' with stunt coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping.
- Filming of the movie took place from June 28 to October 2021 in Berlin, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Osaka.
- Scott Adkins wore special pads and a visually thickening costume.
- The Paris Metro station where Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne's characters meet is "Porte des Lilas". It is often used as a filming location because it has a platform that is no longer in use but is maintained in good condition. This is done when it is necessary to film the Paris Metro without disrupting train traffic.
- According to Chad Stahelski, Keanu Reeves performed all the stunts on the staircase himself, with the exception of the “grand” fall, which featured stunt double Vincent Buonanno. The scene was shot on the second take, as during the first, he somehow got stuck on the railing.
- Some of the steps had additional padding to cushion falls, but in certain cases, this extra precaution had to be bypassed. According to stunt coordinator Scott Rogers, he was very pleased that, aside from “a few bruises and contusions” among the stunt performers, there were no serious injuries during filming.
- After filming wrapped, each stunt performer on the film received a t-shirt from Keanu Reeves as a gift, detailing their numerous 'deaths' in the movie. Each member of his stunt team also received a 'Rolex Submariner' watch worth $10,000 apiece, with a personal thank-you message engraved on the caseback.
- Wanting to perform as many stunts himself as possible, Keanu Reeves underwent a 12-week course in martial arts and extreme driving before filming began.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
