John Wick: Chapter 4 may not be hitting theaters until next year, and the Ana de Armas spinoff Ballerina hasn’t even started filming yet, but that won’t stop franchise director Chad Stahelski from already teasing part five by claiming the studio is fully on board to keep on making John Wick movies.
Stahelski’s words came during an exclusive interview, as per Collider, when addressing the topic of John Wick 5 being greenlit as far back as 2020 with the same duo made up by the director and John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, as well as protagonist Keanu Reeves. However, despite ratifying his intent on making more movies, Stahelski admits the entire team was kind of taken away by the success of the first John Wick, claiming they “made it as a fun little action movie that we'd like to see.”
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the interview is how John Wick's approach was never as strictly planned as other franchises with multiple sequels, explaining that while “ it is the studio's [full] intention to continue the franchise”, the team never set out to make a set number of movies. Stahelski is pretty grateful for John Wick’s success, as he admits “it's changed our lives. It changed my life. It changed Keanu's life. It's changed a lot of other people's lives. And people still want to see more.”
Still, the director does not let such levels of success get to his head, saying it’s “f**cking flattering” that fans want to see more of John Wick, even for a franchise that’s put out three movies in 8 years since the first one premiered. Nevertheless, Stahleski’s repertoire is not John Wick only as he initially granted the interview to discuss his producing role in Netflix’s Day Shift, starring Jamie Foxx, besides other projects such as Henry Cavill’s Highlander remake or a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima.
Even if the next film is scheduled for March 2023, and with so much work piling up fast, Stahelski admits the time to sit down and work on John Wick 5, something that -according to their own tradition- tends to happen while promoting the latest movie as “every Wick has been written or at least conceptualized in Japan at the Imperial Hotel with me and Keanu on our press tour.” over some Japanese whiskey. Simply put, the director is in no rush to jump into it without the right story.
Stahelski admits that they can’t keep making John Wick movies for the rest of their lives, though he still sees the franchise's future as open-ended meaning John Wick 5 could leave fans wanting more, although it might take a bit longer to get here. Regardless of that, Stahelski won’t be starved for work, and neither will Kolstad as he is currently working on Netflix's Splinter Cell adaptation.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is scheduled for release on March 24, 20223.
Source: Collider