John Wick is only called John Wick because Keanu Reeves kept forgetting the actual title

(Image credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

published 28 May 2020

The 2014 action movie John Wick was originally supposed to be titled Scorn, but actor Keanu Reeves reportedly kept calling it "John Wick" on accident, forcing the studio to change the name. "The only reason it's called John Wick is that Keanu kept referring to it as John Wick," the movie's screenwriter, Derek Kolstad, told Comicbook.com. "Marketing was like, 'Dude, that's four to five million dollars in free advertising so far, so it's John Wick instead of Scorn.' I can't imagine it being Scorn now."

Reeves has actually done a lot to shape the John Wick series over the years, it turns out — he also reportedly insisted on riding a horse in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum "no matter what."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.