The movie industry is already saturated with action-packed movies, and almost every concept has been pulled off by more than one film. So, naturally, not even director Chad Stahelski may have expected that "John Wick" would be a successful stab at the action genre, thus "John Wick: Chapter 2" is born.
In an interview with Collider, Stahelski admitted that he was unprepared for a sequel but was pleasantly surprised by the film's success. That being said, he had no idea where and how to start creating the second movie. That's when he followed suit with James Cameron's "Aliens."
Stahelski explained that he took inspiration from how Cameron developed the story for the second film, such that a moviegoer can simply watch "John Wick: Chapter 2" without the need to review the predecessor. "It was a completely conscious decision. That's why we named it Chapter 2. It was a like a chapter in a book. Where, if you pick up a book, you don't have to read the beginning, you can just jump into a chapter," Stahelski said.
Aside from "Aliens," one of the pictures showing Riccardo Scamarcio as Santino and newcomer Ruby Rose as Ares, both playing as assassins who were after John Wick, had a nostalgic feel, pointing to yet another source of inspiration. Keanu Reeves, who plays the lead role, reveals that the hall of mirrors was Stahelski's idea and was lifted from "Enter the Dragon."
"It's his homage to Bruce Lee at the end of 'Enter The Dragon.' The whole installation is a maze of mirrors where guys can pop out and disappear. It's very cool and a lot of fun to fight in," Reeves explains in an interview with Empire.
The second film tackles a storyline where John Wick is pulled out of retirement to fulfill a blood oath with a fellow hitman. He goes to Rome, Italy where he faces off against some of the world's deadliest assassins. That being said, the new film is going to be filled with a lot of wall-breaking action.
"John Wick: Chapter 2" will be hitting theaters on Feb. 10, 2017.
