A screenwriter alleges that the premise of the John Wick franchise was lifted from his original work.
Jeffery Ryan Wicker has sued writer Derek Kolstad, who wrote the screenplays for John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2, along with the films’ production studios Thunder Road Film Productions and Lionsgate Entertainment. In court documents read by Complex, Wicker alleges that Kolstad’s screenplay, titled Scorn, copied elements of his screenplay Blood for Escobar.
Per the complaint, Blood for Escobar seems to allegedly have gotten connected to the makers of John Wick via Mike Goldberg and Josh Adler, an entertainment management duo, who Kolstad credits for launching his career. Wicker says he submitted Blood for Escobar to a screenplay contest that Goldberg was judging.
Wicker believes that Goldberg and Adler shared a copy of Blood for Escobar with Kolstad to write Scorn, and allegedly derived the work into building the character of John Wick. Elements of the Blood for Escobar storyline that are allegedly similar to John Wick include protagonist Alex Rosenthal being a hired assassin for a mysterious company following the death of his wife from terminal illness. Rosenthal is characterized as a “highly-trained martial artist” who “self-medicates the grief he suffers” with whiskey and medication and drives a 1960s Mustang.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that certain sequences of events from the first John Wick and its sequel pull from Escobar, like in Chapter 2, where a “high-society celebration” turns into a violent “gun-fu” battle. Wicker even claims that the movie’s eventual name comes from his own.
The plaintiff is requesting a declaration that the defendants infringed upon his screenplay, along with a payout of $10 million.
This wouldn’t be the first lawsuit that involves the John Wick franchise; in 2024, composer Tyler Bates was sued for breach of contract for allegedly creating a “digital replica” of singer Azam Ali, which was believed to be used in multiple media projects.
