Lionsgate has released a series of character posters for John Wick: Chapter 4, and one of the action film’s stars looks totally unrecognizable. Among the many new promo images is one of Killa, a character played by Scott Adkins. The role seems to have called for some heavy prosthetics and make-up, as Adkins’ regular slim, chiseled appearance is swapped out for a more plump look.
Adkins is an English actor who has been working in Hollywood for more than two decades. His background in gymnastics and martial arts helped him to break into movies and TV. Some of Adkins’ earlier roles were in martial arts films like The Medalion, alongside Jackie Chan, and Unleashed with Jet Li. He would go on to appear in The Bourne Ultimatum and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, before landing his first high-profile lead role in the 2009 movie Ninja. Over the years, he has starred in numerous action films, as well as major projects such as Zero Dark Thirty, Doctor Strange, and Netflix’s Jamie Foxx/Dave Franco vampire action-comedy, .
Videos by PopCulture.com
John Wick: Chapter 4 was written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. The film was originally set to shoot back-to-back with John Wick 5, but Lionsgate opted to postpone those plans, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. John Wick: Chapter 4 was filmed from June to October 2021, and Chapter 5 will be filmed at a later date. Notably, the new film was initially set to premiere May 21, 2021, but was later delayed to May 27, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film will now open on March 23, 2023.
In addition to Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4 will also bring back Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, and Ian McShane will all reprise their roles from the past films. Director Chad Stahelski is back as well, having also helmed the first three John Wick films. Franchise newcomers this time around include Adkins, Rina Sawayama, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Clancy Brown.
The first John Wick came out in 2012 and made over $88 million on a budget of less than $30 million. The second film in the franchise — John Wick: Chapter 2 — opened in 2017 and made over $170 million on a $40 million budget. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum premiered in 2019 and raked in a worldwide revenue total of more than $325 million on a budget of less than $75 million. Collectively, the three John Wick films alone have made the franchise over a half-billion dollars. This sum is on a combined budget of somewhere under $145 million.
