HWI 130

Hollywood What If Chapter 130

The production crew already filled in the important characters in John Wick. 

For Winston(The Owner of Continental Hotel), Kazir decided to go with the original actor. Ian Mcshane signed for sequels and cameos. He was trying to break through because his works in the 90s were all tv shows. 

Iosef Tarasov was the asshole who caused all of the John Wick movies. He was the son of Viggo Tarasov. He was responsible for killing John Wick's dog. Because of that, John Wick returned to the underworld and ended his retirement. Kazir could not find the original actor so he decided to choose someone from the auditionists. 

Of course, Viggo Tarasov was played by Michael Nyqvist. He was the original actor and he willingly signed a contract. He was just starting in Hollywood this year. He was a police officer in a tv show. Compared to his role in the tv show, being a Mafia boss was better. 

Kazir didn't forget Willem Dafoe too. Willem Dafoe was a theatre stage actor around this time. Even though Marcus(Willem Dafoe) died in the first movie, his role was quite important. In fact, Kazir was not sure if he would kill Marcus this time. The man was a true homie by saving John Wick. On top of that, Kazir wanted to make Marcus a member of the Fraternity. Fraternity was a group of assassins who had high concentration and they could bend bullets. 

Then, another important character. Kirill. This certain bodyguard was the hardest opponent that John Wick fought in the entire universe, based on Kazir's opinion. Well, Kirill defeated John Wick once and threw him from the second floor of the bar. Furthermore, their last battle was a pure dogfight. It was a dog eats dog

For Kirill, the crew could not find the original actor so they settled with another actor. They chose Bryan Cranston. 

To be honest, their first choice was Sean Bean but Kazir pushed Bryan Cranston. He was interested to see Mister White and John Wick fighting.

That's right, Sean Bean(Lord of The Rings and Game of Thrones) and Bryan Cranston(Breaking Bad) auditioned for the role of John Wick. Kazir saw their names so he invited them to audition for Kirill's role instead. 

As for the remaining characters, they easily filled them. 

The most important one, obviously, was John Wick himself. 

Kazir was actually thinking between Gary Oldman and Viggo Mortensen. He invited Gary Oldman and even gave him a script. The actor had the privilege to audition in the last round of auditions. 

Gary Oldman is completely prepared for the role. He got long hair, a beard, and a black suit. He looked like John Wick's incarnation. The production crew almost nodded their heads and gave him the role. 

However, Gary Oldman didn't want to sign a trilogy for a start-up salary of $1.4 million... He was asking for more. Well, that was how business works. 

Kazir Grey didn't want a long negotiation because the actors need training as soon as possible. So Kazir looked at the other actors who passed the last round of auditions. 

Then, Viggo Mortensen caught his attention. The man looked at John Wick as well. To make it better, Viggo Mortensen promised to study Russian. And his salary was $1 million. 

In the end, Kazir Grey decided to let go of Gary Oldman. He chose Viggo Mortensen and signed five movies and cameos. The increase in salary per movie was 40%.

Right before the last week of 1997, the cast of John Wick was completed. Grey Pictures got a holiday vacation since Christmas and New Year were coming. 

All of the jobs would restart in the first week of January. 

As for Gary Oldman... Sad to say, he might regret his decision later. 

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"Phew... Phew..."

Now that the cast was completed, the actors started their training early in January. 

The training studio was filled with equipment for them. Grey Pictures hired professional gym instructors. 

The actors were filled with sweat and panting raggedly. Particularly Viggo Mortensen and Bryan Cranston. The two continued practicing their stunts. Even though they were training safely, they could not help but get some scratches. 

Unlike the usual protagonists who didn't get any wounds or bruises, John Wick was the type who get hurt by all of them. 

In the entirety of Chapter 2 to Chapter 4, John Wick was walking like a limp because of the damage he received through the films. 

Perhaps that was the reason why the movie was successful, because John Wick was a vulnerable person who feel pain. He could be hurt not like Rambo and T800. 

The cast needs to finish the 100 days of training. Everyone signed a contract and it should be respected. If someone tried to disregard the contract, they can hire another one. It was a good thing that most of the actors were not famous and humble. They were scared to be replaced. 

The filming would start around April. The whole filming would take two to three months. In fact, Kazir's work was much faster and more efficient than other directors. 

Most directors need two years to finish a project but Kazir could maintain one movie a year. And his movies were all successful. With that ability, the big six was salivation to have him. 

In fact, one of the Big Six was thinking of acquiring Grey Pictures just to have Kazir Grey. His future was promising and they would do everything for the profit. If Kazir and Grey Pictures were worth it, they were ready to pay. 

[Author's Note: My motivation only get me to write 2 chapters. I don't have any excuse. I apologize.] 

[Anyway, do you want Marcus(Willem Dafoe) to die in the first movie, or should I keep him alive?]