Bigfoot Meets John Wick: The Wildman Project Is About to Hit Screens

When you hear the words “John Wick” and “Bigfoot” in the same sentence, you might picture a parody, or at least a tongue‑in‑cheek trailer. But the buzz coming out of Hollywood this week suggests something far more serious – a full‑blown horror‑action hybrid that could become the genre‑bending monster movie we didn’t know we needed.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a screenplay titled Wildman has just been snapped up by Badlands, the horror‑focused label launched in 2024 by Thunder Road Films. The script, penned by Jacob Rainer, first surfaced in a genre‑screenplay contest and immediately caught the eye of executives who love anything that feels like a John Wick fight sequence – only this time, the protagonist is the legendary cryptid, Bigfoot.

What makes Wildman stand out is its logline: after hunters murder his younger brother, a towering, fur‑covered Bigfoot goes on a relentless, ultra‑violent crusade to retrieve the corpse and exact revenge. It’s basically John Wick stripped of a tuxedo and swapped for a massive, mythic creature, with a vengeance‑driven plot that feels eerily familiar to fans of Keanu Reeves’ stoic assassin.

Why does this matter? Over the past decade, the Wick movies have become a template for modern action – tight choreography, realistic gunplay, and an almost balletic approach to kills. Studios have been trying to replicate that formula, and now they’re attempting to transplant it into horror. If done right, the result could be a movie that marries bone‑crunching monster scares with the pulse‑pounding rhythm of a Wick showdown.

Badlands’ involvement adds a layer of confidence. The label lives under the Thunder Road umbrella, the same company behind the recent John Wick spin‑offs that have turned the franchise into a mini‑universe. With the same executives overseeing both the action sequels and now this creature feature, there’s a good chance the film will get the budget and stunt coordination needed to make those high‑octane set pieces feel authentic – even when a massive, hair‑covered behemoth is wielding a shotgun.

It’s also a welcome shift for the Bigfoot mythos on screen. Historically, the creature has been relegated to family‑friendly fare or goofy comedies – think Harry and the Hendersons or Abominable. Very few movies have dared to explore its darker potential, and fewer still have done so with the kind of visceral, almost sport‑like combat that defines the Wick movies. Wildman could finally give audiences a chance to see Bigfoot as a genuine, terrifying anti‑hero.

Of course, there are risks. The original Wick formula works because it centers on a human protagonist we can empathize with, even if he’s a cold‑blooded assassin. Translating that empathy to a massive, shaggy creature will require clever writing and perhaps a few poignant flashbacks. But the premise – a grieving sibling seeking justice – is a timeless hook that, if handled with a little heart, could make the monster feel surprisingly relatable.

All things considered, the project feels like a perfect storm of genre cross‑pollination: horror’s love of the unknown meets action’s obsession with slick, well‑choreographed violence. If the script lives up to its hype, we could be looking at the best Bigfoot movie ever made – and a testament to how far the John Wick influence has stretched across Hollywood.