‘John Wick’ franchise suffers major legal blow

A screenwriter has sued the production company and writer behind the John Wick film franchise for copyright infringement

As per the lawsuit obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, which was filed in California federal court, the writer, J R Wicker, alleged that John Wick and its sequel, starring Keanu Reeves in the title role, bear "strikingly and substantially similar" elements to his screenplay Blood for Escobar.

Both works follow a widowed, middle-aged ex-assassin who's reluctantly dragged back into the criminal underworld and goes on an unstoppable killing spree, while battling an international secret society of hit men.

Wicker is seeking profits from the films of at least $10 million and has named John Wick producer Thunder Road Films, scribe Derek Kolstad and distributor Lionsgate in the complaint.

The lawsuit points to several alleged similarities between Blood for Escobar and Kolstad's spec script that became John Wick.

As in the film, Wicker's screenplay starts with the home invasion of the protagonist, Alex, in which his pet is killed. After that, he recovers a hidden cache of weapons in his house, setting up an action sequence at a nightclub.

Both works also feature a network of assassins operated by a bureaucratic organisation.

Kolstad "intentionally, blatantly, and without authorisation, copied" Wicker's screenplay, lawyers for Wicker accuse in the complaint.

Wicker has also alleged that Abstract Entertainment founder Mike Goldberg was the reason Kolstad was able to review his screenplay of Blood for Escobar as Goldberg was a judge in a screenwriting contest where Wicker had submitted his work.