‘John Wick’ producers wanted an alternate ending where the puppy lived

The vibes on set weren’t any better when the then-first-time filmmakers shot the scene.

“On the day, Keanu was acting with a stuffed dog. Crying. He’s all beat up. He looks awful in his pajamas. Everyone behind the monitors must have thought, ‘Okay, this is the worst idea; these first-time directors are done,'” Stahelski told BI.

Stahelski said for weeks, the pressure grew for him and Leitch to shoot an alternate ending where it’s revealed that the puppy actually lived. Finally, the movie’s star, Keanu Reeves, and the lead producer on the movie, Basil Iwanyk, stepped in.

“Keanu stood up for us,” Stahelski said. “And Basil stood up to the investors, and eventually, they just felt, ‘Fuck it, let’s see what these guys can do.”

“They didn’t understand that we were making a genre movie,” Leitch said. “We are genre fans to the core, and we know those hard-boiled moments are what make memorable moments.”

Ultimately, “John Wick” became a surprise box office hit, earning over $86 million on a $20 million budget. It’s now regarded as one of the best action movies ever made.

Meanwhile, dogs would become a major theme in the “John Wick” franchise. In the third movie, Halle Berry plays a former assassin who has two kevlar-vested dogs as her companions, and the fourth showcases a dog by the side of bounty hunter Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson).