John Wick creator Chad Stahelski’s next movie just got a razor-sharp first trailer. Stahelski will be producing Karoshi, an action thriller written and directed by Takashi Doscher. The film is set in a near-future Manhattan where corporations have near-total control over their employees’ lives. It will follow a mysterious outsider who infiltrates a company to expose its violent practices. As the trailer informs us, karoshi is a Japanese word for “death by overwork.”
While Stahelski is producing the film rather than directing it, Karoshi boasts an impressive cast. Teo Yoo, best known for the excellent romantic drama Past Lives, plays the main character. The movie also features Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Takehiro Hira (Shogun), Isabel May (Scream 7), Bill Camp (The Leftovers, The Night Of), and Show Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice).
As for the crew, writer-director Takashi Doscher previously helmed movies like A Fighting Chance and Only. Pawel Pogorzelski is Karoshi’s cinematographer. He’s best known for his work on the Ari Aster-directed movies Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid.
Karoshi is out on Feb. 5, 2027.
What else has Chad Stahelski been working on recently?
Stahelski is currently directing and producing a reboot of the classic ’80s action film Highlander. It will star Henry Cavill as series protagonist Connor MacLeod, an immortal destined to face his final foe, The Kurgan (Dave Bautista). Russell Crowe is playing MacLeod’s mentor, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez. A Highlander remake has been in development hell for close to two decades, but this version seems to be nearing completion, having begun filming earlier this year. Stahelski previously said the movie is planned as the first in a trilogy, though that will likely depend on how the $180 million picture performs.
As for John Wick, Stahelski is working on both a fifth live-action movie and an animated prequel film, which will depict the “impossible task” that allowed Wick to escape the High Table’s iron grip. Shannon Tindle (Ultraman: Rising) is directing the animated flick, with Ryan and Kaz Firpo (Eternals) co-writing it. Keanu Reeves will return to play Wick. Stahelski is also producing Caine, a spinoff film focused on the blind assassin played by Donnie Yen in John Wick: Chapter 4.