• John Wick was originally meant to be essayed by Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford. 
• But Keanu Reeves took the character and made it his own.
• Franchise producer Basil Iwanyk explains in new book

Keanu Reeves Originally, the role of John Wick was a 75-year-old guy who was going to be portrayed by Harrison Ford or Clint Eastwood.

Quoted by Variety, Iwanyk in the book “One of my best friends is Charlie Ferraro at UTA, who sent me this script from Derek Kolstad called ‘Scorn’. The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick ass. I thought, ‘Okay, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford’.”

Iwanyk continues, “My other best friend in the world, this guy Jimmy Darmody, works as an agent at CAA. At the time, Keanu was represented by CAA.” “”Do you have any action movies for Keanu Reeves?” he asked. I remember thinking to myself, “Keanu is one of the best action stars of the last 25 years. What happened to him?” What’s he been doing?’ He was also directing his film “Man of Tai Chi” and working on “47 Ronin.” We give him the script and tell him, “It’s obvious that you’re not 75.”

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if “We all agreed on the project’s potential. There’s John Wick, the regular world, and an underworld. This gang of honourable thieves. It’s emotional for John Wick, who’s grieving and has a bad background. I liked his search for a new life. And his universe.”