Keanu Reeves starrer John Wick’s lesser-known facts that will SHOCK you!

The day and date of 24 March 2023 will be forever etched in the hearts of the million plus fans of the Hollywood star Keanu Reeves. Well... this was the day and date when the Keanu Reeves starrer ‘John Wick Chapter 4’ got released in the Indian theatres. The film was extremely well received and was praised for its thrilling storyline as well as its well-choreographed breath-taking stunt sequences, which was definitely worth its weight in gold.

Today (June 23) will see ‘John Wick Chapter 4’ being streamed on Lionsgate Play. On the occasion of the film’s grand gala digital premiere, let us have a look at a few unknown facts about the ‘John Wick’ series.

Keanu Reeves was not the original choice for ‘John Wick’
Even though Keanu Reeves and ‘John Wick’ have become extremely synonymous with each other that it is totally impossible to imagine one without the other. But, did you know that, Keanu Reeves was not the original choice for ‘John Wick’! As per a news item in the website Vox, it has been reported that ‘John Wick’s screenwriter Derek Kolstad had once confessed that he had Paul Newman in mind while drafting the script!

Keanu Reeves responsible for the film’s title?
Well… if the reports are to be believed, then, it is being said that the film’s title ‘John Wick’ was earlier known as ‘Scorn’. And since Keanu Reeves was so very impressed with ‘Kolstad’s screenplay, that he was completely into the ‘skin of the character’. Certain reports suggest that Keanu Reeves was all enthusiastic about being a part of ‘John Wick’. So much so that, he would go around telling his friends about him working in the film called ‘John Wick’. The impact of the title was so much that, the makers, then, decided to stick to the film’s title as ‘John Wick’ as compared to ‘Scorn’.

Keanu Reeves learnt Judo and Jiu Jitsu for John Wick
As per a report in BJJdivision online, it has been mentioned that, Keanu Reeves started learning Judo and Jiu Jitsu as he was preparing for the film ‘John Wick’, a film which included many breath-taking combat scenes.

Move over, Kung-fu, here comes Gun-Fu which was created for ‘John Wick’
In an interview to the website 2 Film Critics, John Wick’s screenwriter Derek Kolstad was asked if it was a signature style to have the violence in the film a mix of gunplay and martial arts. To which, Derek Kolstad said that calling it ‘gun-fu’ was an inside joke and that “car-fu begets knife-fu begets gun-fu begets kung-fu”.

‘John Wick’ inspired the conceptualization of couple of video games
Since the film premise of ‘John Wick’ is about a trained killer going around New York shooting a bunch of people, many thought that it had the right set of ‘ingredients’ to be converted into a video game. The ones that finally made the cut was the 2017’s ‘John Wick Chronicles’ as well as 2019’s ‘John Wick Hex’.

‘Japanese pop star’ became the ‘keyword’ to zero down on Rina Sawayama
In an article in Buzzfeed, it was reported that, Chad said that, when they were casting for Akira, he went to Youtube and typed ‘Japanese pop star’. In no time, one of the top results which had popped up was a music video of Rina Sawayama with an orange wig! And bingo! The person who could aptly be cast for the role of Akira was found in Rina Sawayama!

The aerial shot in the desert was possible because of the King of Jordan!
It was the King Of Jordan who had given the film’s makers a ‘Black Hawk’, as per a news item in Buzzfeed. The article stated Chad saying that it was really nice enough on the part of King Of Jordan to have lent his helicopter to fly the get the sunrise shot, which is one of the highlights of the film.