If you watched John Wick and thought to yourself, “There couldn’t possibly be any more action in this story,” get ready for John Wick: Chapter 2. The first poster for the follow-up arrived earlier today, showing star Keanu Reeves getting fitted for a dapper new suit, gun in hand. But in addition to the poster debut, we also learned a bit more about the film. Specifically, expect a lot more action.
Speaking with EW, director Chad Stahelski revealed that there is twice as much action in John Wick 2 as there was in John Wick:
“I would say we had twice as much action as the first movie,” he says about the shoot. “We took it all a full notch up as far as the driving car stuff went. A great portion of the car chase in the opening of the film is Keanu, which is very impressive.”
Stahelski made his feature directorial debut with the first John Wick alongside co-director David Leitch after the two had a long and successful career as stunt coordinators and second unit directors on films like The Wolverine, Jurassic World, and Captain America: Civil War. While Leitch was originally set to return and co-direct John Wick 2, he became busy with his own directorial project The Coldest City starring Charlize Theron and simply serves as an executive producer on the John Wick sequel.
The story of John Wick: Chapter 2 will delve deeper into the criminal network of hotels that was glimpsed briefly in the first movie and will also relocate to Rome. Moreover, Stahelski gets the chance to reunite with Laurence Fishburne after serving as a stunt coordinator on the Matrix sequels, with Fishburne playing a secretive character known only as The Bowery King.
New cast members for John Wick: Chapter 2 also include Ruby Rose and Common, with John Leguizamo, Lance Reddick, and Ian McShane reprising their roles from the first movie. John Wick: Chapter 2 opens in theaters on February 10, 2017.
