#John Wick Co-Director’s New Action Movie Classified Is Die Hard Meets Indiana Jones

John Wick director Chad Stahelski has lined up a new project that sounds like every action fans dream. Titled Classified, the project has been described as a “high octane thriller” (could it really be anything else with Stahelski at the helm?) that was reportedly pitched as “Die Hard meets Indiana Jones”. Combining two of the most beloved action and adventure movies in cinematic history should be more than enough to have excitement levels palpable.

The comparison to these action movie gems becomes clear very quickly when reading the general plot of Classified. The story will be set in a top-secret military bunker similar to the famous warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant was stored at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Much like that warehouse before it, this bunker will contain relics retrieved during World War II that turn out to be incredibly powerful and dangerous.

New Line Cinema recently won the auction to distribute Classified, with Chad Stahelski on board to both direct and produce the project. The tantalising premise was thought-up by Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan, whose previous credits include the likes of Project Almanac and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Jason Spitz and Alex Young from Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven Entertainment, as well as Trevor Engelson from the Underground production company, are also signed on as producers.

Considering the impact that Chad Stahelski has had with John Wick, it is exciting to know that he could have another franchise on his hands. Classified certainly sounds like it is well within the director’s wheelhouse, with lots of shoot outs and fist fights no doubt on the way, but with a hook that differentiates it greatly from Stahelski’s story of Keanu Reeves’ unstoppable assassin.

It will likely be sometime though before audiences sit down for Classified, with Stahelski busy working on bringing John Wick: Chapter 4 and John Wick: Chapter 5 to screens. The next installments in the hugely popular action franchise are due to shoot back-to-back and will pick up following the events of 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, in which our put-upon hitman fought for his life after being made excommunicado. Now with a hefty bounty put upon his head, Wick sets out to seek help to save himself from ruthless assassins and bounty hunters. Much gun-shooting, axe-throwing and horse-riding ensues.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ends with Wick being shot by his friend Winston before falling from the roof of The Continental. In the final scene, our intrepid hero joins forces with Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, with the pair hellbent on taking the fight directly to the High Table. While a filming schedule has not yet been announced, John Wick: Chapter 4 currently has a release date of May 27, 2022.

With John Wick already taking up much of his time, Stahelski is also determined to bring a reboot of the action fantasy film Highlander to the big screen. “We’re in heavy development mode on Highlander,” Stahelski revealed last year. “Tweaking the scripts, writing, conceptualizing sequences, how we’re going to do everything. We probably have a lot more in-person kind of things, but it hasn’t slowed down our development process at all.”

So, don’t expect to see Classified anytime soon. This comes to us from Deadline.

Topics: Classified