John Wick’s Chad Stahelski Calls Oscar Stunt Category “A No-Brainer”

Stuntman-turned-John Wick-filmmaker Chad Stahelski feels an Oscar category for the stunt community would be “a no-brainer.” Before directing Keanu Reeves in the John Wick franchise, Stahelski was the actor’s stunt double in 1999’s The Matrix. He would later become the martial arts coordinator for the first three Matrix movies, before co-directing 2014’s John Wick with David Leitch, another former stuntman. As you can see, the stunt profession is very important to Stahelski, which is why he’d like to see the Academy Awards recognize the hard work that goes into their job.

In a feature for The Hollywood Reporter, Chad Stahelski was asked a wide range of questions, from the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, to the Oscars adding a stunt category. “There’s one for every other department but ours? That’s a no-brainer to me,” Stahelski said. “Truly, there are wives’ tales and rumors and myths about why there’s no category, that the Academy was mad at somebody about something. For all I know, that’s all bullshit. We want to be recognized because we’re one of the 11 main departments. We’re in every fucking trailer. Most movies are sold on what we do.”

John Wick: Chapter 4 Debuts to Impressive Rotten Tomatoes Score

The first reviews are in, and John Wick: Chapter 4 has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a “fresh” rating, maintaining the consistently strong critical response for the fan-favorite action franchise starring Keanu Reeves. The movie, which opens wide on March 24th, will follow up on threads from the previous installment, which saw John Wick on the run from the fraternity of assassins of which he used to be a member, getting help from an underground network of wild and violent characters including Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King. The John Wick franchise launched with a single, modestly-budgeted action movie but quickly became a film series, with a television tie-in coming.

With 31 reviews from critics at the time of this writing, John Wick: Chapter 4 is at 87%, although that could obviously go up or down a little bit as the rest of the early reviews are published on Rotten Tomatoes. The first John Wick actually has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of the franchise with “only” 86%, while both previous sequels are tied for the highest score with 89%. Chapter 4 debuted at 86% and reached 90% at one point before dropping slightly, so it could reasonably land anywhere between the top and bottom of the franchise by the time audiences are allowed to see it.

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on March 24th.