Documentary Details the Shocking Rise of Keanu Reeves 'John Wick' Series (2025)

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Michileen Martin is a contributing entertainment writer located in New York. His focus is on Comics and Comic Book Movies. He has in-depth knowledge of Comics as a whole, being a fan for over 40 years and covering them at Looper, Digital Trends, and Giant Freakin Robot. Michileen joined Newsweek in February 2025. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany. You can get in touch with Michileen by emailingm.martin@newsweek.com. You can find him at Threads @mickmartin182.

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Exactly how do you make a story about a retired hitman coming out of the shadows to claim vengeance after the death of his dog? Well, that's the story this new documentary looks to tell. "Wick Is Pain" is a new documentary that will be available digitally May 9, and be all about the making and the success of "John Wick". You can watch the trailer below.

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Directed by Jeffrey Doe, "Wick Is Pain" uses never-before-seen footage shot since the making of 2014's "John Wick" as well as new interviews with the cast and crew of the films.

The first "John Wick" was not the big-budget production its follow-ups were. In the trailer, you hear producers like David Leitch and Basil Iwanyk speaking doom and gloom because production had been halted by the lack of $6 million.

"We were panicked," director Chad Stahelski says in the trailer. "This is Keanu f---in' Reeves. You do not wanna let him down."

It was ultimately Eva Longoria who invested the $6 million to save the film, and who still makes money off her savvy investment to this day, per Variety.

The "John Wick" series not only has made close to $1 billion, but the sequels do something very rare: they keep making more money. You'll often see diminishing returns in film series, but so far, every "John Wick" film has made more money than its predecessor, starting with "John Wick" making $86 million to "John Wick: Chapter 4" taking home $440.2 million.

Since its humble beginnings, "John Wick" has become its own media empire with its own cinematic universe. Along with the four "John Wick" films, the spinoff "Ballerina" releases this June. "John Wick: Chapter 5" has been announced with Keanu Reeves returning to the titular role. There's the prequel series "The Continental" that streamed on Peacock in 2023.

Reeves will voice his signature character in a prequel anime taking place before the events of "John Wick." The film will show exactly how Wick won his initial freedom from under the High Table by defeating and killing all of his rivals in a single night.

Donnie Yen is starring in and directing a spinoff of the character, Caine, whom he originated in "John Wick: Chapter 4". And a new series is coming out called "John Wick: Under the High Table", set after the events of "John Wick: Chapter 4", it will follow younger killers trying to wrestle power from the High Table.

"Wick Is Pain" releases on digital on May 9.

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