John Wick Director’s New Heist Thriller Filmed 2 Completely Different Endings

Published Nov 15, 2026, 1:41 PM EST Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. Warning: There are spoilers ahead for How to Rob a Bank.How to Rob a Bank almost had a very different ending. David Leitch, who co-directed the first John Wick movie, helmed the new heist thriller film that is centered on a group of bank robbers who use social media to showcase their escapades and build a massive following, all of which is part of a larger and deeply personal plan. How to Rob a Bank ends with Ryan (Nicholas Hoult) succeeding in his mission, getting caught by the authorities, and then being sprung from prison two years later. In an interview with Collider, Hoult shared that Ryan's survival was only one of two endings that were filmed. The other one had Ryan getting killed, and the Superman star did not know which ending Leitch went with until the movie had been fully edited, meaning there were many surprises in store once he got to see the final cut. Check out Hoult's comments below: But also, he’s so open to ideas and trying things that even whether my character died or didn’t die wasn’t decided fully. So we shot both versions of that towards the end of the movie, and it was only when he was done editing and stuff that he made the final decision on those things. So, it’s kind of a nice surprise seeing the movie for me because there were lots of undecided things. [Laughs] Filming alternate endings is not an uncommon practice, but it is particularly notable in this case because of how Ryan's death would fundamentally change the movie. His survival is crucial to his arc of realizing that he has something to live for after being consumed by the grief of losing a child. It also means that he gets to see the positive outcomes of the revolution he started and receive a fresh start after being freed from prison, where he will be reunited with his partner, Emi (Anna Sawai), and meet the child she was pregnant with when he was taken. Had Leitch gone with the other ending, it would have significantly altered Ryan's arc, the movie's themes, and ended the story in a far less hopeful and triumphant manner. Ensuring that Emi could get away and knowing that he would be caught would have been an even greater sacrifice, though, if it led to his death. With a 78% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on more than 250 verified ratings, audiences have overall responded positively to the ending and the movie as a whole. The film has not resonated the same way with critics, leading to a Tomatometer score of 34%, based on 90 reviews as of this writing. In ScreenRant's How to Rob a Bank review, Brandon Zachary gives the movie six out of 10 stars and writes that "when coupled with the absence of strong dramatic material, Leitch's movie leaves much of its entertainment value in the hands of its style and messaging." Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score. As for the other characters, Vince (Pete Davison) and Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz) belong to Ryan and Emi's crew that carries out the heists, with Hugo taking care of all tech needs and managing the increasingly viral social media presence. An FBI agent, John West (John C. Reilly), pursues the crew with help from hacker Reagan Gardner (Zoë Kravitz), and both of their moral codes are tested as they close in on their targets and learn what is driving them to commit these robberies in the first place. While Leitch directed How to Rob a Bank, the movie was written by Mark Bianculli, whose previous credits include episodes of Fox's Doc, Prime Video's Hunters, and the 2016 film The Good Neighbor starring James Caan. How to Rob a Bank is now playing in theaters. Release Date November 13, 2026 Runtime 122 Minutes Director David Leitch Writers Mark Bianculli Producers Brian Grazer, Kelly McCormick, Jeb Brody, David Leitch, Allan Mandelbaum Cast