John Wick creator, Derek Kolstad, might be one of the hottest commodities in the entertainment industry as of late. Since penning the tent pole action franchise, Kolstad has been attached to a slew of newer projects, including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Nobody, and The Continental. He has also been attached to several video game adaptations including Just Cause, Streets of Rage, and TV shows based on Hitman and Splinter Cell. This time around, he has found a partner for a personal passion project of his; Rivulet Films has picked up his original screenplay Acolyte and found a partner of their own to produce and finance the film. Rivulet Films will be teaming up with the Swedish company, Ascot Elite Entertainment, to bring Acolyte to the big screen.
Acolyte centers on Robert Miller, the titular Acolyte and a seeming everyman with skills that defy his unsuspecting appearance. He returns to his home only to find no trace of his wife Helen or any of her sensitive files from her NGO work in Syria. Fearful of what happened, Robert calls upon his old squad of elite operatives, Athena, Helios, Talos, Hades, Cerberus, Icarus, and Hermes, to track down his wife. Together, they look to exact vengeance on whoever kidnaped her and bring fire and fury to the political actors behind the operation.
With Rivulet acquiring the film, Rob Paris and Mike Witherill are on board as producers while Ascot Elite Entertainment has Ralph S. Dietrich, Karin G. Dietrich, Stephan Giger, and Daniel Hoeltschi on the film. Christopher Milburn, who is behind the partnership, will serve as an executive producer with Swedish director, Claudio Faeh.
"In Acolyte, Derek has delivered the perfect follow-up franchise to John Wick and the ensemble of amazing characters he has intricately woven throughout the script offer us an endless array of stories to tell for many years to come," Paris and Witherill said of Kolstad's screenplay. It remains to be seen if the film will reach the same heights as John Wick though, as the franchise has grossed around $600 million over its three films. A fourth Keanu Reeves-led film is slated for a March 2023 release, though Kolstad has stepped down as the writer. Past that, the franchise is also set for a fifth film in the future, though that's certainly a ways off.
Rivulet Films is a relatively new producer on the scene with Paris taking over as president of the Rivulet Media film division back in 2020. Since then, they have had a few successes to their name including the Demi Moore-led Please Baby Please earlier this year, and Taurus which starred pop icon Colson "Machine Gun Kelly" Baker alongside Maddie Hasson, Scoot McNairy, Ruby Rose, and Megan Fox. The company is also currently working on the comedy The Twinkle Brothers by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, John Patrick Shanley, and the John Magaro and Chasten Harmon-led The Mistress.
Kolstad's longtime dream film Acolyte is finally coming to fruition and adds to his ever-growing plate of action films, video game adaptations, and everything in between. No word yet on when Acolyte is expected to hit our screens.