Many people may not remember it now, but before the first John Wick movie was released back in 2014 people expected very little out of the film. This makes all the sense in the world, given that new action movies are released every year and Keanu Reeves’ previous movie, 47 Ronin, had flopped at the box office and with critics.

Since its initial release, John Wick has gone on to be considered one of the best modern action movies and it has spawned a pair of extremely successful sequels. With more John Wick movies set to be released in the years to come, now seems like the perfect time to look back on the franchise. With that in mind, it is time to take a look at this list of 15 little-known facts about the John Wick movies.

15 There Are Plans to Make a Spin-Off Film

Since the surprise success of 2014’s John Wick, that movie and its two sequels have become a popular franchise. As a result, plans for a spin-off film named Ballerina have been announced. Details about the film are still relatively scant so far but the movie is said to be about a young woman training to be an assassin in order to get revenge on those who took her family’s lives.

14 Last-Minute Decision

Despite some people perceiving the John Wick films as typical action movies, they actually are outside the norm in several ways. For example, John Wick Chapter 2 introduced Ares, a mute assassin who communicates through sign language. Arguably one of that film’s best aspects, Ruby Rose’s character originally was going to speak until director Chad Stahelski made her mute just before filming began.

13 Longstanding Relationship

Considering how expertly crafted the John Wick movies are, it is all the more impressive that the films are directed by Chad Stahelski since he was a stuntman before working on them. Thankfully, Keanu Reeves had faith in the first time director which makes sense given they’ve known each other for years since Stahelski was the actor’s stunt double during The Matrix movies.

12 John Wick: Chapter 2 Had a Strange Release in Australia

Actually a hit on an international level, John Wick was released around the world and it did well enough in Australia that it was the movie’s third-best market outside North America. Despite that, when John Wick Chapter 2 was released it didn’t come out in Australia until two and a half months after it hit theaters in most of the world’s countries.

11 Wildly Outperforming Its Predecessor

As anyone who follows the movie business closely will know, over time most movie franchises make less money at the box office. Fortunately for everyone involved in this series, that certainly hasn’t been the case so far. Instead, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum made more money in its opening weekend than the first film in the series brought in during its entire theatrical run.

10 Extensive Training

Ever since John Wick first took the cinematic world by storm, much has been made of how much training Keanu Reeves has done to pull the series’ main character off. Also, no slouch when it comes to her work ethic, Halle Berry worked on her combat skills and fitness for six months prior to appearing on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’s set.

9 Alfie Allen Was Cast For A Less Than Flattering Reason

Due to the fact that John Wick spends the entirety of the first movie hunting Losef Tarasov down, it was imperative that viewers were fine with his efforts to dispatch the villain. For that reason, the movie’s director and one of its producers were overjoyed to find Alfie Allen since he was very nice in real life but seemed like a jerk on film.

8 Keanu’s Incredible Work Ethic

Based on how many dynamic action scenes the John Wick movies include, it is pretty obvious that filming them must be somewhat arduous for series star Keanu Reeves. As it turns out, that was especially true for the actor when they filmed the nightclub scene from the first movie since he had the flu at the time and was running a 104° fever.

7 There is Going to Be a TV Show Spin-Off

Earlier on in this list, we looked at the fact that there are plans for a John Wick spin-off movie to be released in the not too distant future. On top of that, a TV show that exists in the franchise’s universe is also coming soon. Titled The Continental, the series will focus on the hotel introduced in the movies and will be produced by Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski.

6 Bacon Smear

When it comes to the reasons we love John Wick, the character’s love for dogs is one of the biggest. Exemplified during a scene in the first film in which the young pup and John Wick share a bed, the dog smothered its human friend with kisses once they both woke up. In order to make that happen, Keanu Reeves’ face was smeared with bacon grease when they shot that scene.

5 Unlikely Inspiration

During a 2017 interview with Empire, director Chad Stahelski revealed that movies like The Sound of Music and Singin’ in the Rain have heavily influenced the John Wick series. This is the case because he sees fight scenes as a dance of sorts and he even said: “I don’t want to reach and say it was a musical, but it was meant to be a live performance based on dance.”

4 A Famous Producer

Let’s face facts, we all know that most moviegoers pay very little attention to a film’s credits. Interestingly enough, however, if you pay attention to the first John Wick film’s credits you’ll notice the name Eva Longoria listed among its producers. It seems she didn’t have a hands-on role though as during his commentary track director Chad Stahelski said of the famed actor: “Never met her...but we thank her for writing a check!”

3 Halle Berry’s Broken Bones

Earlier in this list, we touched on just how committed Halle Berry was to pulling off her role in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. What we didn’t reveal at the time was that during an interview with Extra, Halle Berry revealed that she “broke three ribs” during rehearsals for the film. Thankfully, she wasn’t too upset about the injury and even referred to it as a “badge of honor”.

2 Serious Injury

From one entry about an injury to another, the way Michael Nyqvist was hurt during the filming of the first John Wick movie was a lot more serious than Halle Berry’s broken ribs, unfortunately. After all, while shooting a scene for the film, Nyqvist’s ear was cut so badly that it reportedly was hanging on his shoulder and the injury required 80 stitches to repair.

1 John Wick Was Initially Conceived as a Much Older Character

At this point, when we think about John Wick, it is Keanu Reeves and how dynamically he moves while playing the character that comes to mind. Evidently, that almost wasn’t the case as the film’s main character was originally supposed to be in his mid-60s. When you really think about it, that makes a lot of sense considering Wick is retired and has attained a mythological status in the underworld.

Sources: hollywoodreporter.com, cinemablend.com, tvovermind.com