Keanu Reeves is bringing John Wick back, but it’s not for a surprise instalment of the action movie franchise. This time, Wick will be animated.
The project is a prequel telling the story of one of the legendary chapters in the John Wick saga, showing for the first time how the assassin known as Baba Yaga earned his escape from the criminal underworld.
True John Wick fans will know the story of the so-called “Impossible Task,” the near-mythical feat that made Wick a legend among assassins when Wick had to eliminate all his rivals in a single night to free himself from his obligation to the High Table. Fans will remember the story from the 2014 original, when crime boss Viggo Tarasov recounts it as a warning to his son about the man he has crossed.
Shannon Tindle, who directed Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising and worked on the animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, will direct the movie. Ryan and Kaz Firpo, who co-wrote Marvel’s Eternals, wrote the script.
The Toronto actor will also produce the film, along with Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee of Thunder Road and Chad Stahelski of 87Eleven Entertainment, who all worked on the live-action John Wick movies.
Reeves grew up in Toronto and started his acting career on local stage productions such as Wolfboy and on CBC television including the youth series Going Great and Hangin’ In.