All 7 Projects Director Chad Stahelski Is Working On After John Wick 4

Ever since John Wick was released in 2014, studios have wanted director Chad Stahelski to take control of all their action movies in development, and fans now want him to head the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again Disney+ series. It makes sense that fans would bring up Stahelski’s name, as the Daredevil series is known for its intricate and meticulously shot action sequences, but Stahelski, unfortunately, shot the idea down because he wouldn’t have creative control.

However, it isn’t like audiences will have a lack of Stahelski-directed gun-fu movies and shows, as the filmmaker is attached to direct so many projects in the coming years, many of which are huge blockbuster movies. Between an epic adventure movie based on a bestselling video game, a remake of a cult classic, and several more assassin-based films, Stahelski is sticking to what he does best.

Highlander

Like many of the movies that Stahelski is attached to as director, Highlander has been in development for such a long time. The filmmaker is giving regular updates on the development of the remake, which began all the way back in 2009, and since then, so many directors and stars have been attached to the project, such as Justin Lin and Dave Bautista.

But now, Stahelski is in the director’s chair, and he seems extremely dedicated to bringing the remake to the big screen. And it’s now confirmed that Henry Cavill will play Connor MacLeod, and the Superman actor is perfect for the role. Most recently, Stahelski announced that he and the studio are closer than they’ve ever been to entering production.

Ghost Of Tsushima

The Ghost of Tsushima video game took the world by storm, and it isn’t often when a completely original game that isn’t part of an existing franchise becomes as successful as the 2020 video game was. Because of the samurai game’s huge success, Sony was quick to greenlight a movie adaptation. However, while Sony’s PlayStation exclusives are generally the gold standard of gaming, their movie adaptations aren’t quite as well crafted. Between Uncharted and the animated 2016 Ratchet & Clank movie, the studio’s track record isn’t great, but with one of the best action directors working today at the helm, Ghost of Tsushima could be a historical action epic and the first-ever great video game movie.

That could especially be the case given that Stahelski wants the movie to be in Japanese. On top of that, where most of his upcoming projects are perfect for Stahelski given his skillset, the video game movie would see him doing something new, stealth, which is almost the opposite of the filmmaker’s typically bombastic action sequences. Tsushima is one of the most visually stunning PS4 games, so it’ll undoubtedly be a cinematic masterpiece too.

Shibumi

Stahelski is attached to direct so many huge projects that it’s a wonder how they’re all going to get made. Given that developing a movie, directing it, and doing press for it is generally a two-year commitment, Stahelski’s schedule must be full for the next 14 years (which is also worrying for fans hoping for a John Wick 5.) Shibumi is the latest project added to Stahelski’s laundry list of projects, but it’s totally within the filmmaker’s wheelhouse.

Shibumi is based on a 1979 novel and follows a retired expert assassin who kills his victim with everyday household objects, which sounds pretty familiar. The film’s premise might sound a little too similar to John Wick, but John Wick’s co-director, David Leitch, has made a successful career out of doing exactly that with movies like Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train. 2014 is one of the most influential years for action movies, which is primarily thanks to the envelope-pushing John Wick, and when a filmmaker is that great at shooting a very specific kind of action, it only makes sense to continue that style.

Sandman Slim

Sandman Slim is a series of fantasy novels, and Studio 8, who has the film rights, has tapped Stahelski to direct the first movie. The film has the potential to be the next great gothic paranormal movie, as there hasn’t been one since Constantine. However, it’s unlikely that it’ll arrive anytime soon.

Unfortunately, anyone wanting to see Stahelski take on a paranormal fantasy series might be disappointed, as the news that the director was attached came four and a half years ago, and there hasn’t been an update since then. It’s likely that Sandman Slim may remain in development hell, which comes as a surprise as there are 10 novels in the series, meaning that there’s the potential for a huge Harry Potter-like franchise.

John Rain

John Rain is a series of novels about a globe-trotting assassin, and the original John Wick duo, Stahelski and Leitch, planned to direct a 10-episode TV series based on the novels. Unfortunately, Rain has been in development without any updates for even longer than Sandman Slim, as Stahelski and Leitch discussed their plans for the project eight years ago with Collider .

The filmmakers spoke about the project just after the release of John Wick, but it could be that they didn’t know how successful the 2014 movie was going to be and hadn’t planned to make a sequel, meaning that they were already looking for their first post-John Wick project. Interestingly, the series was also set to star Keanu Reeves, so it’s more than likely that the project was put on hold after John Wick’s phenomenal success. But the film still hasn’t been confirmed to be canceled yet.

Kill Or Be Killed

John Wick is one of the best movies about assassins, and Stahelski knows it, as all of his projects outside the four-movie franchise are all based on assassins too, and that’s no different when it comes to Kill or Be Killed. The project is based on the comic book of the same name and has a unique concept.

The story follows a young man whose life is saved by a demon, but the demon only allows him to live an extra month for every person he kills. It has such a dark premise, and it could be the perfect replacement for Sandman Slim given that it’s just as gothic and exciting. However, once again, there hasn’t been an update in over four years, but it still hasn’t been officially canceled.

Classified

According to Deadline, Stahelski signed on to direct Classified, a movie that was pitched as “Die Hard meets Indiana Jones.” The movie sounds like the great Indiana Jones movie that never was, as it takes place in a secret government bunker full of relics with supernatural powers, and that bunker sounds like where the Ark of the Covenant was stored at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Though it’s unlikely, as Classified and the Indy franchise belong to two different studios, Classified sounds like a great Indiana Jones spin-off and where the franchise should go in the future, as it’d be a struggle to replace Harrison Ford as the iconic archeologist.

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