Chad Stahelski may be about to begin production on the fourth John Wick film, but that hasn’t stopped him from signing on to other projects. The former stuntman has signed on to produce an adaptation of Trevanian‘s Shibumi at Warner Bros.
Stahelski will produce the project through his 87Eleven banner, alongside partners Alex Young and Jason Spitz. Although he’s only on board as a producer right now, the idea is that the project is being developed as a potential directing vehicle for the future.
Trevanian is the pseudonym of Rodney William Whitaker. His novel was published in 1979, and focuses on the struggle between the ‘Mother Company,’ a conspiracy of energy companies that secretly controls much of the Western world, and a highly skilled assassin named Nicholaï Hel.
This project sounds ideal for Stahelski, so it’s no surprise to hear that the novel was reportedly one of his favourites while growing up. That synopsis has a very John Wick vibe to it, and Keanu Reeves was at one point circling the project when it was being discussed a few years ago. But this iteration reportedly has no talent attached and a new writer will pen the script from scratch.
Besides Shibumi, Stahelski has a bunch of other projects in development too. He’s also working on a reboot of Highlander at Lionsgate, which has Henry Cavill attached to star, an action film called Classified in the works at New Line, and an adaptation of popular video game Ghosts Of Tsushima at Sony.
When he’s finished with John Wick, Stahelski will have plenty of options as to what to direct next, although it’s pretty much assured he won’t have the time to helm all of those projects. We’ll see whether Shibumi is one that he makes a priority.
#Peace.Love.Shibumi
