Interview (Written): Derek Kolstad

A 2014 interview with the screenwriter of John Wick and John Wick 2.

I’m not a huge action film fan. I like revenge movies even less. But a few years back, I happened upon John Wick on cable, and got completely sucked in by the movie. Since John Wick: Chapter 2 opens this weekend, I clicked around to find an interview with the movies’ screenwriter Derek Kolstad and found a 2014 Flickering Myth Q&A with the writer.

Let’s bring this story full circle. How did the screenwriter of John Wick start out?

I’ve been writing since the age of 13, but having grown up in the mid-west, I never really saw it as a career. I went to school, started a career in business, but over time grew desperate to leap at this which I did at the age of 26. Fourteen years later, I get my first theatrical, thus making me -as many would argue- an “overnight success”. It’s been a rough ride, but a good one.

Wick sounds fantastic. Where did this story come from?

Even though I write a ton, I had never written a pure revenge flick. And who doesn’t love a good one? I had seen a couple of disappointing entries, and decided to tackle one myself. Alistair MacLean and Stephen King were huge influences on me growing up. MacLean could build a world, and King could surprise you by what the main character truly was capable of. As for the dog, I found myself asking the random question of myself: “what would you do if someone did something to Loki or Isis (my two mutts)?” And the answer? Terrible, terrible things…

Here is a trailer for John Wick: Chapter 2:

Here is short interview with Derek Kolstad:

For the rest of the Flickering Myth interview, go here.