When Total Film asked Stahelski for a status check on “Ghost of Tsushima,” his response suggested production is not yet in full force, and while he wants to make it his next directing focus, he hasn’t fully made up his mind for what to prioritize in his pile of work. As Stahelski described it:
“[‘Ghost of Tsushima’] would be my favorite to do next. Without going into crazy detail, it’s something I’m super-interested in. We have a really great script. We have a really good creative team behind it. It’s just about getting all the business end of things locked in. It’s kind of in that little bit of flux where everybody is trying to tighten up the deal to get everything going, and to make sure we do the best with it. It’s a simple thing: getting a great script, and starting to put together a cast. It just takes a lot of moving parts.”
For as much negativity as we can read into Stahelski’s comments, there’s plenty of good news to take away. Doscher’s script sounds to be coming along, and it’s more casting and resourcing that needs to be settled. Stahelski ultimately came off as reassuring:
“Obviously, ‘Ghost’ is a special project. Everybody realises it. Everybody wants to do it, with the introduction of new technologies and a new way to do the epic samurai vibe […] There’s just a lot of things to put together before we really pull the trigger on making it, mostly from my side creatively. And we’re in that process right now, trying to pull everything together so we knock it out of the park.”
For a better sense of what is capturing Stahelski’s attention, we’ll have to look out for news on “John Wick 5” and “Highlander.” The March 2023 issue of Total Film will hit newsstands on February 2.