“We’ve Come A Long Way”: John Wick Director Celebrates Oscars Stunt Category Addition

John Wick director Chad Stahelski celebrates the Academy by adding the Best Stunt Design category. The filmmaker was the creator behind the John Wick franchise, which began in 2014. Since then, the series has grown into four completed movies, and a spinoff TV show, and is releasing the upcoming spinoff movie Ballerina on June 6. Considering the franchise is known for its action and fight choreography, the Academy shared that they decided to add a Best Stunt Design category. The award will be added to the 2028 ceremony, making 2027 releases the first batch eligible for this award.

Speaking with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Stahelski reacted to the addition of Best Stunt Design. The John Wick director appreciated the Academy for “really putting in the time” to figure out how to honor stunt teams and discussed the importance of stunt work, saying “None of us [in the industry] would be here if it wasn’t for the last 100 years of stunt people.” Even though the stunt category is considered overdue, he noted that he “give[s] a lot of credit to the Academy for doing it right” by discussing the award with the stunt community. Check out the full quote below:

None of us [in the industry] would be here if it wasn’t for the last 100 years of stunt people. We’ve come a long way because a lot of other people have sacrificed a lot. So, it’s pretty cool to be here and be at the apex of an entire century of performers and coordinators and action directors. And it’s a shame that a lot of them won’t get to see where it all went to.

We’re very lucky to be at the tail end of this, or at the apex where, a couple of years ago, the Academy came to us going, ‘Hey, how do we help? How do we get this going?’ And for some people, it may have looked like it’s taken a long time, but actually, I give a lot of credit to the Academy for doing it right. They took their time. They talked to a lot of the stunt community — stunt coordinators, 2nd unit directors, the women’s groups, the men’s groups. Every different aspect of the stunt community, they went and talked to and tried to find out, not just should we get an award — no one argued that — they wanted to know how to give the award, who to give it to, how do we select it and they really did their homework. And when they felt like they had a good handle on it, they announced it.

What This Means For The Oscars

Stahelski’s Words Are Especially Meaningful

This Academy praise means a lot coming from Stahelski. Trained as a kickboxer and getting his start as a stunt performer, the John Wick filmmaker has been one of the leading voices in the stunt world for a while. Though he has turned to directing in recent years, he has been a stunt coordinator on prominent blockbuster films such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Wolverine, and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool 2. As such, his approval carries a lot of weight.

Stahelski also makes an important point about the time the Academy took to recognize stunts. Industry professionals have wanted this award for a while, and the push has been accelerated in recent years by director David Leitch, who made the Ryan Gosling-starring movie Fall Guy, which served as a love letter to the stunt community. However, it was not as simple as just making a “Best Stunts” category because there are stunt coordinators, performers, supervisors, and more. There were also concerns about the category being exploited if it was not properly defined and named. After some consideration, the Academy settled on Best Stunt Design as the award тιтle.

Our Take On The Oscars Stunt Category

The Oscars Is Recognizing Another Category Soon

Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers in a Cowboy Hat in The Fall Guy

Stahelski’s quote sheds more light on how much care the Academy took when deciding how best to format this Oscar. The other recent addition — Best Casting, which this year’s releases are eligible for — will also recognize underappreciated behind-the-scenes work, this time awarding casting directors. With careful consideration and eventual inclusion of the Best Stunt Design category, the Academy continues to move in the right direction by giving technical categories greater importance and prominence.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline