....

Seventy-Seven.

What’s that number? That’s the kill count of John Wick in this film.

Now, don’t ask who sits around tallying something like that; because there’s a man named Regal who does exactly that.

According to him, after writing everything from the story board to the action sequences, seventy-seven was the number that emerged.

Every single one accounted for.

....

From Keanu’s years of understanding filmmaking, after working in this industry for so long, he had come to recognize that there are fundamentally two types of action scenes in a movie.

The first is what you might call Choreographed Set Pieces, or Logical Action.

These are meticulously planned, rehearsed, and filmed sequences where every move serves a deliberate purpose.

If a fighter is knocked down, they stay down, and if there are ten henchmen, the hero works through them methodically, and the number diminishes accordingly.

This style often utilizes long, unbroken takes, one-shots, to showcase the continuity of the action....

While not entirely realistic, since real fights tend to be messy and unglamorous, these scenes maintain a sense of grounded physics and tactical awareness.

The primary goal is to immerse the audience in the physicality and tension of the confrontation.

The second type is Narrative, or Convenience Action; what some call Theatrical Action.

These scenes are staged around the convenience of the script, prioritizing spectacle over strict logistical consistency.

Enemies might attack the hero one at a time, allowing for a clean, choreographed sequence rather than a chaotic brawl.

The number of fighters can shift throughout the scene, with opponents conveniently disappearing as the hero moves from one section of the set to another.

Characters sustain unrealistic injuries or pull off impossible physical feats, and audiences accept it as part of the cinematic language.

The purpose is to heighten entertainment, create a standout ’cool’ moment, or serve the plot by establishing just how formidable the hero truly is.

And Keanu’s belief, one that Regal happened to share, was that neither approach was inherently wrong.

Audiences tend to forgive the lack of logic because the primary goal of movie action has never been documentation;

It’s entertainment.

Directors use both types to manipulate the audience’s perspective, choosing between tense, grounded combat and over-the-top, stylistic spectacle depending on what the moment demands.

So where does John Wick fall?

The first one obviously.

At least that’s what Keanu believed.

....

"But you also want to add the cool elements to the action while not compromising the continuity?"

Keanu asked, glancing over at Regal as he practiced his Gun-Fu form, moving through the stance he had been working over months of drilling.

Even before Regal had shared that they will be collaborating soon directly, he had been showing the signs over six months.

And without giving any reason, Regal being Regal, he asked Keanu to take multiple martial arts.

And Keanu being Keanu, he took them without any questions.

From the past five months, he dedicated four to six hours daily to judo, jiu-jitsu, and tactical shooting alongside professionals; including former Navy SEALs.

Even now, with filming already underway, he continued training whenever the schedule allowed.

At the moment, he was working through his shooting stances.

John Wick would employ real-world tactical techniques throughout the film, using the Center Axis Relock, or CAR, stance for close-quarters engagements, and shifting to a Weaver or Isosceles stance when engaging targets at longer range.

Regal responded with a single word.

"That was fine."

Keanu let out a quiet sigh, he was getting used to it by now.

....

It was true that Keanu and Regal had been close friends for a long time.

But it was equally true that they hadn’t worked together professionally since their first film [Following], outside of the occasional mutual promotion, a passing mention in interviews, a show of support at premieres.

This collaboration was, in many ways, an entirely new experience for both of them.

And as the weeks passed, Keanu had begun to notice a few things about his old friend.

Regal had become something of an actor’s nightmare.

Stubborn beyond measure, and more thorough and particular than ever before.

The seventy-seven kill count was far from the only detail he had obsessed over.

There was a wealth of background information Regal had compiled; most of which would never appear on screen, yet all of which added a certain invisible depth to the character.

For instance: John Wick was born Jardani Jovonovich somewhere in the Byelorussian SSR of the Soviet Union, to a Ruska Roma family, on September 2nd, 1964.

Regal was also intensely particular about tone; specifically, the way Keanu should carry the character’s voice.

John Wick, as Regal envisioned him, would speak in Keanu’s natural, low-register American voice.

The dialogue would be limited, blunt, and delivered with a gravelly quietness.

Despite the character’s Belarusian origins, he wouldn’t employ a heavy foreign accent in English.

The focus would be on a quiet, intense demeanor - a man who communicated far more through action than through words.

But there was one area where Regal had perhaps invested the most effort of all: the Russian accents.

And it wasn’t just Keanu he was concerned about. Anyone who spoke Russian in this film would do so correctly, or not at all.

The reason was something Regal remembered; faintly, the way certain memories from what felt like another life tend to surface in fragments, that in the original John Wick films, the Russian dialogue had drawn genuine criticism from native speakers.

There had been incidents where Russian audiences resorted to reading the subtitles just to understand what was being said, even when the lines were supposedly delivered in their own language.

When characters meant to be Russian spoke it, the result was, at best, passable; but almost never sounded like a native speaker. And when John Wick himself attempted it, the results were even less convincing.

There was no way Regal was letting that slide on his watch.

This film was going to be one of the greatest action movies ever made, and he wasn’t about to let a stilted, unconvincing Russian yank the audience out of it every time someone opened their mouth.

He had ensured that Keanu, along with every other relevant cast member, would put in the time to get their pronunciation right.

....

While Keanu stood lost in thought, Regal tapped him on the shoulder and held up his phone.

"First things first, you need to explain this."

Keanu looked at the screen, and the moment the image registered, he put on his most convincing innocent expression.

"What’s that? Who’s this guy? He looks just like me..."

"He looks like you." Regal said flatly. "Because that is you."

"Did you really sneak out yesterday–" he continued.

"Look, I won’t do it again, it was a mistake–"

"Without me?" Regal cut in. "You could have called, I wanted to go out too."

As he said it, he felt a cold gaze settle on the back of his neck, he turned.

It was Rock, standing nearby with his usual unreadable expression.

Regal held the look for a moment, then turned back.

Keanu rubbed the back of his neck, looking appropriately sheepish. "Sorry, mate. Next time, we will sneak out together."

"Now we’re talking." Regal said.

The exchange between them was light enough, easy in the way only old friendships can be.

But the photo itself had already traveled far beyond the café where it was taken.

Which was worth nothing; because at present, Regal and the entire production team were based in London for pre-production. The irony was not lost on anyone, given that the film itself would be shot almost entirely on location in New York City and the surrounding areas.

The key locations were already locked in.

The Continental Hotel; the iconic assassins’ sanctuary, would use the exterior of the Beaver Building, also known as the Cocoa Exchange, at 1 Wall Street Court in Lower Manhattan. The opulent interior lobby would be filmed at the Cunard Building at 25 Broadway.

John’s House; sleek, glass-walled, and deliberately modern, was a private residence located in Mill Neck, Long Island.

The Red Circle Nightclub; would use the exterior of the Surrogate’s Court at 31 Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan, with the neon-lit interior shot at the Edison Ballroom near Times Square.

The Gas Station; the site of John’s first encounter with Iosef Tarasov, was a station on North Highland Avenue in Upper Nyack, New York.

Calvary Cemetery in Queens, with its dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline, would serve as the setting for Helen’s funeral.

Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, Long Island, would host the sequence where John vents his grief by pushing his Mustang to its limits on an empty runway. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Aurelio’s Chop Shop would be filmed at Pine Scrap Metal in Maspeth, Queens.

The Little Russia Church, where Viggo conceals his assets, would use the interior of St. Francis Xavier Church in Brooklyn.

Bethesda Terrace in Central Park would serve as the backdrop for the scene in which Ms. Perkins is declared excommunicado.

And the Final Showdown between John and Viggo would be filmed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

....

But right now, they were in London.

And the photo Regal had shown Keanu was a simple one; him sitting alone at a café table, a cup in front of him, looking entirely at ease.

The caption beneath it read:

Keanu Reeves was sitting in a café in London when a teenager nervously approached and asked for an autograph. And not only did Keanu sign, but he invited the boy to sit with him.

For twenty minutes, they talked about motorcycles; the teen was saving up for his first bike, and Keanu offered advice on what to look for and how to ride safely. When the boy eventually got up to leave, the waiter quietly informed him that Reeves had already settled the bill and left a hundred-dollar tip with a handwritten note:

"For the future motorcyclist’s helmet."

Later that evening, the teenager posted online: "He spoke to me like an equal."

The post had since spread across the internet; moving from platform to platform, city to city, far beyond the small café in London where it had started.

....

.

[To be continued...]

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