John Wickfranchise director Chad Stahelski knows a thing or two about action movies. After working for nearly two decades in Hollywood, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker is ready to spill the beans on how guns are handled on set and why Alec Baldwin’sRustnightmare could have been avoided.
Stahelski has been the man behind the camera in all fourJohn Wickmovies, but he is also famous for taking part in 1994’sThe Crow, where another gun accident took the life of Brandon Lee, son of notedmartial arts icon Bruce Lee. That experience profoundly impacted Stahelski, who served as Lee’s stunt double and whose footage ended up being used to finish the movie with the late actor’s face replacing his using CGI.
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Stahelski knows how dangerous firearms can be, soThe Hollywood Reporterasked him to share hisopinion on theRusttragedy. “What happened onRust… I wasn’t there, but the accidents that I’ve been around, seen, or been part of have always been human error. It’s never mechanical,” Stahelski said. The director referred to his early days, when movies would use blank bullets, which were still deadly, and how electronic and plug guns have been invented, which make it “impossible for anything to come out of the barrel and total CG. That’s the way we do it.”
When asked why this type of gun is not used as the standard, Stahelski doesn’t hold back. “There’s no reason to have a live firearm on set,” he said, and if CGI has evolved so much, “We have the technology to do the same with firearms.” He also offered his theory on why Hollywood doesn’t make the change, arguing the film industry has been using real guns for so long that the move would kill prop houses and armorers. “It would make their entire stock of real firearms useless,” Stahelski said. In his view, guns are surplus to necessities in movies, but “The alternative is just going to cost you more money.”
Ultimately, Stahelski’s words seem to fall on deaf ears, as each production will decide how they’ll handle their need for firearms in movies. Yet, if money is the only obstacle, the benefits outweigh the deadly risks real gun usage poses.In the aftermath of Halyna Hutchins' death, Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are currently facing trial for potentially negligent practices on set that Stahelski claims could have been easily avoided.
It’s good to know thatJohn Wicksets are as safe as they canbe under Stahelski’s watch, and judging from first reactions toChapter 4, this Keanu Reeves franchise will continue to be an absolute hit once the movie premieres.
