In the movie “John Wick” the hero could have been 75 years old – Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford were considered for the role

John Wick 4

Keanu Reeves wanted to play John Wick so much that the script was rewritten.

John Wick franchise producer Basil Ivanik said Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford were originally considered for the role of hitman John Wick. John Wick was supposed to be 75 years old.

Action “John Wick” in 2014 was so successful that he received two sequels at once. And currently, work is underway on two more parts of the series and spin-offs – there will be a film “Ballerina” and a series “Continental”. John Wick became one of the main roles in the career of Keanu Reeves. It is already impossible to imagine anyone else in the role of Wick. However, Reeves could have missed the opportunity to be part of the John Wick franchise.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Basil Ivanik has shared details on the creation of John Wick in a new book, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action. Should They Kill His Dog: The Complete Uncensored History of John Wick, Kung Fu, and the New Era of Action. According to Ivanik, in Derek Kolstad’s original script, the title of the film was “Contempt.” It was a story about a 75-year-old retired hit man:

“The main character was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after his retirement. It was interesting to imagine Clint Eastwood fighting someone. I thought, ‘OK, there’s probably one or two actors we could do this with. Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford.'”

At some point during the project, Basil Ivanik was approached by a good friend of his, Jimmy Dermody of CAA. At that time, Dermody represented Keanu Reeves, so he invited Ivanik to invite the actor to some action movie. And the producer decided to show Reeves the script for “Contempt”, although the actor was not suitable for the role because of his age:

“I remember thinking back then, ‘Keanu is one of the biggest action movie stars of the last 25 years. What’s wrong with him? Where’d he go? He directed Master Tai Chi and starred in 47 Ronin.” We gave him the script and said, “Of course, you’re not 75.”

However, Keanu Reeves liked the story about hitman John Wick and the hotel for mercenaries “Continental” so much that he did not want to give the role to another actor. As screenwriter Derek Kolstad recalls, Reeves simply latched on to the script with the intent to “make it his own . ” As a result, it was decided to rewrite the script – and Keanu Reeves personally took part in the process:

“I went to Keanu’s house on weekends for two months, we worked on the script. […]. He reads everything [the scripts they send]. And he read the script in 90 minutes and said, ‘I want to do this.'”

In the meantime, we continue to wait for the film “John Wick 4”. The world premiere will take place on March 24, 2023.