Keanu Reeves’s John Wick had a furry sidekick in the franchise’s first installment but much to the fans’ heartbreak and disappointment the puppy couldn’t make it out alive, sparking the fandom’s long fight for revenge. Celebrating the franchise’s 10th anniversary, producers David Leitch and Chad Stahelski chatted with Business Insider and shared insider details from the film sets. 

They also weighed in on the tragic dog death scene. “We were told, ‘It’s bad luck.’ ‘It’s bad juju,’” Leitch explained. People kept telling him that this would be another Old Yeller which no one would want to watch because of the tragedy, alienating the audience eventually. 

“And I’m like, ‘We’re going to execute people at close range; killing the dog is one thing, but what about the brutal massacre of all these human beings? Are they going to be able to accept that?’” he explained. Being fans of genre-focused movies themselves, the producers only aimed to create an authentic genre movie and knew that these “hard-boiled moments” would become memorable for the franchise. 

John Wick features Reeves as the legendary assassin who retired to marry the love of his life. However, when thugs stole his prized car and his late wife’s puppy, it prompted Wick (Reeves) to go on a killing spree and quench his thirst for vengeance. So the dog death scene was a turning point for the franchise. 

Reeves being a method actor practiced the death scene with a stuffed dog, “crying” and appearing all “beat up” which made the makers rethink their decision to kill the dog and shoot an alternate ending. “Everyone behind the monitors must have thought, ‘Okay, this is the worst idea; these first-time directors are done,’” the producer recalled. 

It was The Matrix actor who “stood up” for them and their vision. But Keanu stood up for us. And Basil stood up to the investors, and eventually, they just felt, ‘F— it, let’s see what these guys can do,’” Leitch added. The intuition was proven correct and the franchise became worth $1 billion. 

The three blockbuster films, the legacy will continue with projects like From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, set to release in 2025, Peacock’s prequel limited series The Continental and the sequel series John Wick: Under the High Table.

Venom: The Last Dance has hit theaters, marking the end of the Venom Trilogy, which was hailed by Mavel and Sony Pictures. Following the release and the massive response from the audience, Tom Hardy, who played Eddie Brock/Venom, and the director of the film shared that they always knew that there would be three movies. Marcel has been a major part of the films since the beginning, as she added her points into writing and directing the first installment until the third.

In conversation with People Magazine, the actor and the filmmaker revealed that when Sony approached Marcel with the offer to direct the Venom series, she took it up to make a note that three parts of the storyline are released simultaneously. 

The director stated, “We knew it would be three. We knew it was a trilogy and we knew it would end like this from the beginning.” She went on to explain, “Sony asked me to [direct] and I was like, ‘Oh, okay then.’ I have been on the first two movies and it felt like we knew that this was the third and final one and knew that this one was going to be both a blast but emotional as well.”