John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Signs on to Make More Action Movies for Lionsgate

Movies

Lionsgate is investing in the action business. In a statement released this morning (via Variety), Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson announced that Chad Stahelski, the former stuntman who directed all four John Wick movies (the first with fellow stuntman-turned-director David Leitch), has signed a “multi-year, first-look production deal” with the studio for his production company, 87Eleven. The deal is said to allow Stahelski to develop original action movies for Lionsgate that the studio can “turn into the next hits and franchises,” an expansion of his previous agreement to shepherd the John Wick and Highlander franchises. 87Eleven has produced movies as varied as The Wolverine, The Mechanic, The Hunger Games, Jurassic World, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and, of course, John Wick.

This makes me happy, and it’s more evidence that we’re in the midst of an action movie renaissance. I’m glad they’re specifying that they want Stahelski to focus on original action movies, albeit with the caveat that they’d like to turn at least some of them into franchises. I’m okay with the occasional one, like John Wick (although it’s going too far for my taste, with spin-offs and prequels), but I don’t want to see every action movie they make become a series. I’d rather have more movies in the same vein and of equal quality than endless sequels to everything; as much as I liked Nobody and Violent Night, for example, I have mixed feelings about the announced sequels to each. (Those are from 87North, David Leitch’s production company, but still.) In the same way, I’m more interested in this new deal than Stahelski overseeing more John Wick spin-offs or a Highlander remake and its likely sequels. If the new era of action films is really going to thrive, it needs to diversify instead of putting everything into the same handful of brands. But I’m happy to see that, one way or another, more action films from Chad Stahelski are on the way.