The success of the “John Wick” movies has highlights the artistry that goes into stunt work and franchise director Chad Stahelski has become one of the strongest advocates for honoring stunts at the Oscars. The filmmaker has long been vocal about his desire to see a new stunt-focused category added to the Academy Awards — and now his efforts may pay off.
In an interview with ComicBookMovie.com, Stahelski said he met with decision makers at the Academy and believes his vision will come to fruition soon.
“We’ve been meeting with members of the Academy and actually having these conversations, and, to be honest, it’s been nothing but incredibly positive, incredibly instructional,” Stahelski said. “I think, for the first time, we’ve made real movement forward to making this happen.”
Stahelski said that the biggest roadblocks are logistical ones. Stunt work is a collaborative art form and awards could theoretically go to a variety of departments.
“The question is, we haven’t had the real talks about how do you even determine what to award,” he said. “Like, is it for best stunt? Is it best choreography? Best action sequence? Best stunt ensemble? Does the stunt coordinator get it? The guy doing the gag get it? The martial arts choreographer? The fight choreography? The stunt double? The second unit director? The editor? Who gets the award? All these are great questions that just need to be talked about by smart individuals on both sides of it, the stunt community and the Academy.”
The filmmaker ultimately reiterated his confidence in the Oscars adding a stunt category, saying it’s a matter of when rather than if.
“For the last three months, we’ve been talking to members of the Academy, getting this huge machine up and running to have these discussions and, again, to be open and fair about both sides,” he said. “Both sides have been incredibly positive. There is no one that we’ve met so far that thinks antagonistically to this like everybody on both sides wants this to happen. They want stunts at the Oscars. It’s going to happen. It’s just how do we do it as fair and as thought out as possible.”
