The movie ‘John Wick’ was supposed to have a completely different name. However, the action franchise was renamed because of the lead actor Keanu Reeves. In hindsight, this turned out to be a good decision.
The original version of the script was titled Scorn. The main character was supposed to be a 75-year-old killer who had been retired for 25 years.
Although Keanu Reeves didn’t seem to fit the description of the protagonist, he still managed to secure the role.
But not only the age of the character, but also the title of the movie was changed because of the lead actor, as screenwriter Derek Kolstad told Comicbook.com on May 23, 2020.
Here you can see a trailer for the fourth and latest installment of John Wick:
Keanu Reeves only spoke of John Wick
According to Derek Kolstad, there was only one reason why they renamed the first film and then the entire franchise: Keanu Reeves.
The lead actor kept referring to the film as John Wick during interviews instead of the original title. For marketing reasons, they decided to simply use the new name for the film:
The marketing said: ‘Dude, that’s four to five million dollars of free advertising so far, so it’s called John Wick and not Scorn.’
Derek Kolstad via comicbook.com
Meanwhile, the screenwriter can no longer imagine that the film was known as Scorn today.
The title change was also a good decision, according to Derek Kolstad. Because both the name of the main character and the films have become an important part of pop culture, especially in the action genre.
Currently, there is a rumor that Keanu Reeves is supposed to play a significant Star Wars role. You can find more about it here with our colleagues at Filmstarts.
The title additions of the two subsequent John Wick films, however, were not determined by Keanu Reeves but by filmmaker Chad Stahelski and the screenwriter:
‘Parabellum was by Chad and I love it. Chapter Two was, I think, I just wrote it in the title,’ Kolstad explained.
Keanu Reeves almost changed his own name at the beginning of his career. In the end, however, he was glad he didn’t do it:
