The trailer for John Wick: Chapter 3 promised us the Sofia of Halle Berry and her highly skilled canine buddies teaming up with John for a battle royale and it didn’t disappoint.

Three movies and the villains still haven’t figured out that you don’t mess around with John’s four-legged friends. John and Sofia teach them the error of their ways during a bullet-filled escape from a fortress in Casablanca. At this point, fans have seen all the ways John can use a gun to ruin the existence of a vaguely European villain, so the filmmakers spice things up by launching the Sofia pair in search of enemies. Belgian Malinois. In an interview with the ReelBlend Podcast at the time of chapter 3Director Chad Stahelski revealed the time-consuming preparation it takes to train these dogs in their big screen debut:

“You have to have it all [the training] incorporated into financial data – what you will do with the animals after [the movie], and how you train them – because you don’t want the animals to hurt their teeth, hurt their jaws. Stuntmen need to be exceptionally trained, because if they want to do these gigantic air-out reactions, you don’t want your stuntmen hurting the animals. You want them to land on the poor dog or something. So the skills have to be repeated and repeated and repeated. “

This rehearsal period lasted for several months as the trainers worked with the dogs to get comfortable with them. Additionally, Berry and Reeves had to partner with the dogs throughout pre-production and filming so the animals could get used to interacting with their human co-stars and not confuse them with their fictional villain targets. . However, the actors and stuntmen weren’t the only key members of the production involved in the necessary planning of the action scene.

“Who else is on the set when you do this? All the background players,” Stahelski told ReelBlend. “Guess who’s even closer to dogs than stuntmen? Cameramen. So who does a dog need to know the most? Cameramen. Most of the time, cameramen are only brought in for a week, maybe two weeks before. the start of the movie. I have to bring my team three months before the start, just to sit there and let the dogs get used to the smell. “

All of that preparation pays off in one of the franchise’s most enjoyable stunts. When John isn’t dealing headshots like Oprah gives cars, the two dogs chew or bite the poor dudes who get in Sofia and John’s path. Audiences can’t help but cheer and cheer as man’s best friend becomes the franchise’s official mascot, especially when Sofia orders one to hold a human milk bone in her jaws. until John can deliver one hell of a doom.

SYFY’s John Wick Memorial Day Weekend Marathon kicks off Saturday, May 29 at 9 p.m. ET on SYFY with the original, John wick. The marathon resumes Sunday, May 30 with the full trilogy, starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, including the SYFY Network premiere of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. And just to wrap up your long weekend, there will be follow-up broadcasts of the second and third installments on Monday, May 31 at 3:30 p.m. ET and 6:03 p.m. ET, respectively.