John Wick executives recall executives’ violent reactions to the first film’s puppy death scene and how it was shot

On October 24, 2024By Yukito

In a world where franchise filmmaking reigns supreme, creation new Franchising is not an easy task. And yet 10 years ago, stuntmen turned directors Chad Stehelski and David Leitch came together and gave the world John Wick. The film gave new life to Keanu Reeves, and each of his entries ranks among the best action films of the decade. It’s a big story that begins with the death of a dog, and of all the deaths in the film, this was the hardest.

The entire action of the series, which currently consists of four films, begins with the murder of John Wick’s puppy by a gangster. It is the death of a gift he received from his recently deceased wife. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary John Wick co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch spoke to Business Insider, and Leitch discussed the fact that many have tried to dissuade them from killing their dog. Leitch said…

We were told, “It’s bad luck.” – That’s bad juju. “It’s Old Yeller, you can’t do this!” “No one will want to see it on screen; you will discourage the audience. And I said, “We will be executing at close range; killing a dog is one thing, but what about the brutal massacre of all those people? Will they be able to accept it? They didn’t understand that we were making a genre film. We are fans of the genre to the core and we know that these difficult moments are what make them unforgettable.

It’s certainly true that many people have a harder time surviving animal deaths in movies than people. It’s understandable why people would be afraid that killing a dog would turn off viewers. While such a moment would certainly be powerful, if it is too important, it may cause the audience to disengage from the very beginning.

But for directors, the key is to John Wick is the fantasy of it all. Stahelski has previously called the film “crazy,” and it’s true that the franchise has more in common with superhero movies than it might seem at first glance. The world of John Wick is impossible. This makes the puppy moment less “real”. Another way this scene was handled so as not to upset people too much was how the scene was actually filmed. Chad Stahelski described it all by saying…

Dave and I were very much in agreement on how we were going to shoot this scene. We wanted to use a children’s lens; John gets hit on the head hard, so it’ll be like he’s in a dream; the dog’s death happens off-camera, and all you see after the event is a streak of blood that makes it look like the puppy is trying to crawl to it.

The shooting method separates the scene and the audience sees everything through John Wick’s confused eyes. That probably alleviated everything to some extent. Despite this, the issue of the dog being killed was a running theme throughout the film’s production, with some suggesting changing the film’s ending to undo everything. Stahelski continued…

So that day Keanu was playing with a stuffed dog. Cry. He’s all beat up. He looks terrible in pajamas. Everyone behind the monitors must have thought, “OK, this is the worst idea; these new directors are done. Over the next few weeks, it was suggested that we make an alternate ending that would show that the puppy wasn’t actually dead. But Keanu stood up for us. Basil stood up to the investors and they finally just felt like, “Fuck it, let’s see what these guys can do.”

As it turns out, these guys managed to create an incredibly innovative and stylized action film that has become one of the best action franchises working today. Original John Wick was a modest hit, but many fans learned about it through word of mouth. Sequels followed, each a bigger box office hit than the last.

John Wick fans have a spinoff movie Ballerina that we look forward to on the 2025 film calendar. At this point, the future of the main series is in question, but it’s possible that we haven’t seen the last of Keanu Reeves as John Wick.