When we think of JOHN WICK, we typically think of highly intense action sequences which involve Keanu Reeves making heads explode with a few well-placed shots, but our canine friends are just as important to the franchise, and the upcoming JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM will be no exception. The upcoming sequel will introduce several new dogs loyal to Sofia (Halle Berry), a character who just so happens to have a past with John Wick (Reeves), and much like Wick, her dogs are "symbolic of someone she's lost."
As we've glimpsed in the recent trailer, these dogs are front and center in several of the action sequences in JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM, and the dog training that went into these scenes was intensive. While speaking with Collider, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 director Chad Stahelski explained that Halle Berry was actually quite involved in the training process herself.
We didn’t want a trainer hiding behind a set piece or a prop or something like that. We wanted Halle—or, Sophia, our character—to be our on-screen dog trainer. So it wasn’t acting like these were her dogs, these actually were her dogs. When we cast Halle we had the big talk. Halle actually came, after all her fight rehearsals and gun rehearsals, she would go sit, and work, and play with the dogs for months on end so the dogs on-screen actually obey Halle. They’re not looking at a trainer. That was really fun.
It's hard enough to develop stunt sequences involving humans, but when you throw dogs into the equation, it's a whole different matter, and Stahelski elaborated on what went into turning these dogs into stunt performers. "The stunt guys put on a special kind of padding. It’s colored green. It’s almost a really bright green. The dog has been trained, “Go after the green toy. Don’t bite anything but the green toy.” So wherever the stunt man put the green toy, or our little green chewy toy, that’s what the dog would go after," Stahelski said. "So if we wanted a groin hit, the stunt man would wear a velcro green on the groin. If it was forearm, it’s on the forearm. Back on back. We’d come up with all these straps so the dog knew, “When I see green, get green.” As long as you didn’t wear green on set to work that day, you’re doing great."
The official synopsis for JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM:
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run for two reasons… he’s being hunted for a global $14 million dollar open contract on his life, and for breaking a central rule: taking a life on Continental Hotel grounds. The victim was a member of the High Table who ordered the open contract. John should have already been executed, except the Continental’s manager, Winston, has given him a one-hour grace period before he’s “Excommunicado” – membership revoked, banned from all services and cut off from other members. John uses the service industry to stay alive as he fights and kills his way out of New York City.
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM will hit theaters on May 17, 2019.