Clint Eastwood is considered one of the legends in Hollywood who has made a name for himself in the action genre. The Dirty Harry star earned international stardom after donning the iconic Western hero avatar in several projects. But the star has also made a name for himself for leaving out on some of the most legendary roles. This also includes the role of John Wick who was slated to receive a very different story earlier.
John Wick is one of the best action franchises which changed the whole action genre differently. Interestingly, the franchise that pushed Keanu Reeves to worldwide popularity was initially set to cast Clint Eastwood in the lead. It was planned to be a story of a retired much older assassin until the script reached the hands of Reeves.
Clint Eastwood was almost cast in the Keanu Reeves blockbuster
It cannot be denied that John Wick was a revolution in the genre of action. The lovers of this genre were completely blown out of their minds watching the tuxedo-clad Keanu Reeves with all that action and gunfight. But the lead was not the first choice for the role as the story was supposed to show the story of a retired assassin to be played by Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford.
The details were revealed in the book They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action. After Eastwood denied playing the role of James Bond, screenwriter Derek Kolstad thought of playing with that idea several years later in the form of a 75-year-old former assassin. According to the producer Basil Iwanyk:
“The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick a**. I thought, Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford. Other than that, I’m not sure how I put this movie together.”
Then the movie was also set to be called Scorn. However, the whole narrative changed when Keanu Reeves entered the picture unexpectedly. Not only does the plot of the movie see a turn but Hollywood witnessed the birth of an action franchise that delivered a unique experience and it only turned better with each part.
How did Keanu Reeves land the role?
It was Keanu Reeves‘ agent Jimmy Darmody who made it possible for the Speed star to helm the role planned for Clint Eastwood. As revealed by Basil Iwanyk, Darmody asked him if there was anything interesting for Reeves.
Basil Iwanyk gave serious thought to it as the Constantine star also had a name in action. Soon after that, he approached Reeves for the role.
“I remember thinking to myself, Keanu is one of the great action stars of the last 25 years — what happened to him? What’s he been doing? And he was directing his movie, ‘Man of Tai Chi’, and doing ‘47 Ronin’. We give him the script, we tell him, ‘Clearly, you’re not 75.”
Keanu Reeves was absolutely baffled by the script when it was brought to him- “Basil brought the script to me with the idea that I would be a part of such a great collaboration”. He started working hard for the role and also had discussions with Derek Kolstad to re-develop the story. The Knock Knock actor also wanted his character to be 35 which was also accepted by Kolstad.
Recently John Wick is one of the most successful films with 4 films and each movie is better than its predecessor. The fourth movie was released this year and earned more than $430 million. While a fifth movie is also in development several projects are also set to be released that are set in the same universe.