Chad Stahelski used 'The Hong Kong Massacre' as an inspiration for a scene in 'John Wick: Chapter 4.'
The 54-year-old director is at the helm of the latest John Wick movie - which stars Keanu Reeves as a former hitman called out of retirement - and revealed that the 2019 top-shooter video game actually served as inspiration for a scene in the new action thriller.
He told Slash Film: "If you're ever lacking creativity, handcuff yourself and then figure it out, because then you'll do something you haven't done before," said Stahelski. "So top shots were never very cool with us, with lighting or choreography, because it gets old quick. But I had seen this video game and I'll throw a shout-out – I think it was called 'The Hong Kong Massacre.' they did this top shot and we had been doing so much with the big muzzle flashes and it just kind of clicked like, 'Well, if I'm above, we shoot like this and we shoot like this, and it draws these cool lines with the muzzle flash, and if I get the right flicker effect, it's like Etch A Sketch. It looks really cool.'"
Chad went on to add that the scene was a "different way" to amplify the action and keeps the viewer in "video game mode."
He added: "And it was a different way to amp up the action and keep you in that video game mode that John Wick's kind of known for, that first-person shooter kind of thing."
