Derek Kolstad

Derek Kolstad is a writer best known for the John Wick film series. 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 for success in Hollywood at first. 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.

Works

Streets of Rage

Based on the Sega video game series.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Nobody 2

Sequel to Nobody (2021). Plot TBA

Release Date: 2025-08-13

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Eve Macarro begins her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.

Release Date: 2025-06-04

Department: Writing

Job: Characters

John Wick: Chapter 4

With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

Release Date: 2023-03-22

Department: Writing

Job: Characters

Vote Count: 6861

Die Hart

Kevin Hart - playing a version of himself - is on a death-defying quest to become an action star. And with a little help from John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Josh Hartnett - he just might pull it off.

Release Date: 2023-02-22

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 457

The Princess

A beautiful, strong-willed young royal refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed and is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.

Release Date: 2022-06-16

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 797

Nobody

Hutch Mansell, a suburban dad, overlooked husband, nothing neighbor — a "nobody." When two thieves break into his home one night, Hutch's unknown long-simmering rage is ignited and propels him on a brutal path that will uncover dark secrets he fought to leave behind.

Release Date: 2021-03-18

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 7229

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Super-assassin John Wick returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.

Release Date: 2019-05-15

Department: Writing

Job: Characters

Vote Count: 10816

John Wick: Chapter 2

John Wick is forced out of retirement by a former associate looking to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to aid him, Wick travels to Rome and does battle against some of the world’s most dangerous killers.

Release Date: 2017-02-08

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 13251

John Wick

Ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.

Release Date: 2014-10-22

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 19474

The Package

A courier for a local crime lord must deliver a mysterious package while being chased by a horde of unusual gangsters.

Release Date: 2012-11-01

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 127

One in the Chamber

A seasoned assassin plays both sides in a Russian gang war and becomes the target of an unknown enemy.

Release Date: 2012-08-21

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 162

Stray

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Just Watch Me

Riley Wolfe, a master thief and expert in disguise who targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent, teams up with a master forger named Monique and a team of expert thieves on a job that will make history.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Normal

A temporary sheriff uncovers a deep criminal conspiracy at the heart of his small-town community in the aftermath of a bank robbery.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Ordained

The story centers on a priest who performs last rites at a hospital and one day, gives sacraments to a dying patient, The patient confesses to being the head of the Irish Mafia and spills out his darkest deeds and secrets. When the man makes a miraculous medical recovery, he is quick to return to his old ways and send his men to kill the priest who now knows where all the bodies are buried. Big however: the priest’s collar wasn’t always white as he was once a Navy SEAL who found his faith in the midst of battle. Gangsters, corrupt cops and a police officer who wants to take on the Irish Mafia head will learn what happens when you cross this priest.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Booker

Plot kept under wraps.Described as a hard-boiled action film.

Department: Production

Job: Producer

A Darker Shade of Magic

Set in four parallel worlds, with four parallel Londons ruled by different magical powers and monarchies. There’s Grey London, where the people have been told that magic is a myth; Red London, where magic is embraced and thrives; White London, where magic is used by the rulers against it’s people; and Black London, where magic has overpowered the people and corrupted the world beyond repair.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Hunting Season

A law officer from the future is declared an enemy of the state and is sent back to the past as punishment. The man is stalked by a posse and has to find a way to adapt to his surroundings to survive.

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

The Man from Nowhere

A remake of the South Korean film, which followed a quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past who takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Time Agent

Based on the 2018 Korean sci-fi short film.

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Acolyte

When his wife is kidnapped, a simple man reveals himself to be anything but as he assembles his old crew to rescue her.

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Hellsing

A live-action adaptation of the popular eponymous Japanese franchise.

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Painter

A young woman, trained from a young age, must employ every skill in her arsenal to rescue her father after he is kidnapped.

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Canyon

Taking place over the course of one scorching night, Canyon, a part-time jazz musician and full-time killer, finds himself the unlikely protector of a young siren pulled into a turf war between feuding crime families.

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Die Hart 2: Die Harter

Hart plans an innovative action film with unscripted, unexpected scenes to cement his legacy as the greatest. However, a blind spot leads him to fall victim to a vengeful plot from his past.

Release Date: 2024-05-30

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

The Continental: From the World of John Wick

Winston Scott is roped into a world of assassins and must make things right after his brother's attack on the Continental hotel.

Release Date: 2023-09-22

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 525

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Following the events of “Avengers: Endgame”, the Falcon, Sam Wilson and the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities, and their patience.

Release Date: 2021-03-19

Department: Writing

Job: Staff Writer

Episode Count: 6

Vote Count: 8522

Die Hart

Tired of being the comedic sidekick, Kevin Hart gets his wish when a famous director offers him his dream – to be a leading man action star – but there’s a catch: Kevin must first train at the world’s greatest action star school, run by a lunatic.

Release Date: 2020-07-20

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 84

John Wick: Calling in the Cavalry

Short documentary that looks at a number of elements like the initial pitch for the project and the 2nd Unit action sequences.

Release Date: 2015-02-03

Character: Self

Vote Count: 18

Don't F*#% With John Wick

Behind the scenes look at fight choreography and action training.

Release Date: 2015-02-03

Character: Self

Vote Count: 46

Splinter Cell: Deathwatch

Former U.S. Navy SEAL Sam Fisher is recruited by the NSA to work for the mysterious Third Echelon division within the agency.

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 1