The John Wick franchise, which took the world by storm almost a decade ago, had its first installment turn into a sleeper hit, ultimately grossing $1 billion worldwide. While the latest entry, John Wick 4, may have seemed like the possible conclusion of the assassin’s adventures, the director and creator of this Keanu Reeves-led series, Chad Stahelski, has grander plans in mind.
In a conversation with Inverse, Stahelski revealed that he has “notebooks and notebooks” filled with ideas for future John Wick sequels, separate from the FX prequel series titled The Continental. He also addressed the final scene of John Wick 4 and shared insights into the evolving style and narrative of the franchise.
Reflecting on the ending of John Wick 4, Stahelski noted, “If you go back and you watched—God forbid—all four in a row, it’s supposed to be a bit of a fever dream.” He chuckled as he continued, “You can see how the first one starts fairly grounded. The second one’s a rock opera, and the third one’s a kung fu classic. The fourth one is this weird western samurai film. They get more ridiculous as you go. They get more anime as you go… it’s supposed to be a myth. It’s supposed to be a tale. Some people miss that.”
Stahelski further explained that the movies are designed to be akin to mythological tales involving gods and mortals, and they follow a similar structure to a fantasy story. He posed questions about the fate and freedom of John Wick, emphasizing that it wasn’t intended as a gimmick to conclude the franchise. Stahelski clarified, “Keanu and I didn’t map it all out. We did John Wick, [and] ended it. We did 2, ended it, and we waited six months to a year or two; we had an idea, and we went.”
In addition to The Continental TV series, The Ballerina is also in production, aiming for a summer 2024 release. However, potential disruptions caused by strikes in the industry might affect the timeline. Stahelski expressed that he has numerous ideas for continuing the John Wick saga, but the challenge lies in actualizing them.
“I have notebooks and notebooks of ideas behind me, John Wicks 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We have ideas for days. We just don’t have the story locked. I have no interest in doing the cash grab of bringing John Wick back for something. Is he a character I like? Of course,” he stated. “And if I did a couple of John Wick movies, great. Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story. We leave that open-ended. I know that the studio would love us to say we have another one.”
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