It was ten years ago today, that the first John Wick hit theaters and began to play.
While the first Keanu Reeves starring, Chad Stahelski directed, and Derek Kolstad written movie flew under the radar at the box office only grossing $43M stateside and $86M worldwide, the R-rated action pic ala the original Austin Powers boomed on home entertainment and mushroomed into a mega franchise across four films for Lionsgate grossing $1.02 billion.
Lionsgate has several festivities planed including special events, anniversary screenings, new experiences, and new collectible merchandise, culminating in the release of Ballerina: From the World of John Wick next year on June 6. Keep reading below.
“John Wick is a wonderful role and the first film was an extraordinary experience,” said Reeves. “The combination of character, story, so completely intertwined and expressed through Chad and Dave’s action design, was very special.”
“Any artist pushes themselves to go further and outdo themselves,” said Stahelski. “What I hope we’ve shown with John Wick and its successive chapters is that stunt artists are, in fact, artists. I hope that is what makes our films stand out.”
“Keanu Reeves created an unforgettable character as John Wick,” says Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk, who has produced all four films in the franchise. “His performance as a man capable of almost anything except putting his past behind him is one that only Keanu could deliver, and I think it’s the reason why other incredible actors—Ian McShane, Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne, Common, Ruby Rose, Anjelica Huston, Asia Kate Dillon, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, the irreplaceable Lance Reddick, to name just a few—have wanted to be part of his world.”
“The elegant minimalism and iconic genre trappings of Derek’s draft allowed us to realize our vision of the John Wick world, mythology, and graphic novel sensibilities – elements that defined our work on the film,” added David Leitch. “It was the perfect playground for the provocative action we had been waiting to unleash on the world for years.”
Among the events planned are:
Fathom Events Screenings with John Wick returning to theaters on Nov. 3 and 6. There’s also an exclusive sneak peek at Ballerina, which takes place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, following Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) as she begins her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
There’s the John Wick Experience in Las Vegas located in the Area15 district which blends the immersive escape experiences and highly themed cinematic environments to create an interactive journey that transcends reality. In the experience, attendees step through the doors of the Las Vegas Continental Hotel and into the fantastical underworld of John Wick, where they navigate a high stakes adventure as well as visit a themed bar and retail shop open to the general public. The experience opens later this year.
There’s also the Titans of Cult Steelbook which comes out on Tuesday, Nov. 5 as an Amazon exclusive. The pic is presented in Dolby Vision for the first time, the release from Titans of Cult—an elevated and premium brand for collectors—features four collectible art cards, an acrylic display stand, an enamel coin pin, and art by Matt Ryan Tobin.
Among the collectible merchandise is are plush and action figures from Youtooz, action figures from Hot Toys, and cosplaying ducks from Tubbz, precious metals from APMEX, apparel and accessories from Ripple Junction and American Classics, collectible cars from Round2 and Greenlight, to a fully rendered 3D collectible bust of John Wick from Diamond Select.
There’s also the John Wick Pinball game from Stern pinball. The John Wick pinball games include custom narration by critically acclaimed actor Ian McShane as Winston and an original score composed by Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera fame.