fiction.wikisort.org - Screenwriter

Derek Kolstad (born April 4, 1974) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He is the creator of the John Wick franchise, which began in 2014 with the film of the same name. He continued to write for the sequels of the franchise and is mainly known as a screenwriter of action films and shows.

Derek Kolstad
Born	(1974-04-04) April 4, 1974 (age 48) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter film producer
Years active	1987–present
Known for	John Wick franchise
Style	Neo-noir action films

Biography

Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Kolstad attended Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart and later studied business administration at Taylor University in Indiana. He moved to California at age 24 to pursue screenwriting. He says he started writing films when he was a teenager, but he struggled to find success in Hollywood at first.[1]

Career

The first script he sold was called Acolyte, which was purchased by Voltage Pictures in June 2012. After that, he got some writing and re-writing work, including work on One in the Chamber, starring Dolph Lundgren and Cuba Gooding Jr. He then wrote another Dolph Lundgren film titled The Package.

By the end of 2012, Kolstad sold his other script, titled Scorn, to Thunder Road Pictures, and in April 2013, Keanu Reeves agreed to star in the film. It was Reeves who suggested the name of the film be changed to John Wick after the title character,[2] who was named after Kolstad's maternal grandfather.[3] The film went on to become a major box office and critical success. It has been followed by two sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 in 2017 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in 2019.[4] In addition to the films, Kolstad also wrote the video game John Wick: Chronicles and was involved with the creation of the John Wick comic book series.[5] However for the upcoming 4th and fifth films, he was not asked by the studio to return to the franchise. [6]

In 2017, it was reported that Kolstad will write a live-action television adaptation of the Hitman franchise as well as an action-thriller titled The Steward.[7][8][9]

In 2019, it was reported that Kolstad will write and produce a live-action film adaptation of the Just Cause franchise.[10]

In 2020, Netflix announced that Kolstad will be an executive producer and writer on the upcoming "Splinter Cell" anime series.[11]

In 2021, Kolstad was hired to write the screenplay for a live-action adaptation of Hellsing for Amazon Prime Video.[12]

Personal life

Kolstad lives in Pasadena, California with his wife Sonja and twin children.[3]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Producer	Writer	Director	Notes
2012	One in the Chamber	No	Yes	William Kaufman	with Benjamin Shahrabani
2013	The Package	No	Yes	Jesse V. Johnson
2014	John Wick	No	Yes	Chad Stahelski David Leitch
2017	John Wick: Chapter 2	No	Yes	Chad Stahelski
2019	John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum	No	Yes		with Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams
2021	Nobody	Executive	Yes	Ilya Naishuller
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	No	Characters	Chad Stahelski

Television

Year(s)	Title	Executive Producer	Writer	Notes
2020	Die Hart	No	Story	Also creator[11]
2021	The Falcon and the Winter Soldier	Co-executive	Yes	Episodes: "Power Broker" and "The Whole World Is Watching"[13]

References

External links

• Derek Kolstad at IMDb

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