John Wick co-director Chad Stahelski has found his next project, and, shocker, it’s being described as a “high octane cat ‘n mouse thriller”. Between Stahelski and his former tag partner David Leitch they seem to have that market cornered.
Deadline reports Stahelski will direct Classified, an action-thriller picked up by New Line after a competitive auction with other studios. Described as “Die Hard meets Indiana Jones”, the story takes place in a top secret government bunker like the kind we saw in Raider of the Lost Ark. Does that mean Nazis faces will be getting melted? Possibly, because inside this bunker are powerful and dangerous relics recovered during WWII.
The film has a script by Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan, who previously wrote Project Almanac and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.
Stahelski has directed all three John Wick films but has yet to branch out into other solo efforts the way Leitch has. He’s been attached to a Highlander reboot for a while now, but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere except maybe to television. Other projects coming up include comic book adaptation Analog, a high-concept car film from the A Quiet Place producers, and he’s ready the fourth John Wick film. He also did some action work on Birds of Prey, something I thought would lead to a further connection with DC Films or perhaps a move over to Marvel. So far that hasn’t happened yet, but if Classified is a hit could lead to bigger things.
