Chad Stahelski reveals why ‘John Wick: Chapter 5’ is scrapped for now
After reprising the most iconic role of his career in The Matrix Resurrections, Keanu Reeves has done it again for his second-most famous part – John Wick. The latest addition to the John Wick franchise was finally released earlier this week, garnering widespread acclaim for its approach to arthouse action as well as Reeves’ solid performance. In fact, many fans took to social media to declare that Chapter 4 is the greatest entry in the series so far.
Throughout the series, Reeves has been fantastic as the titular ex-hitman who embarks on a bloody path in search of revenge. According to director Chad Stahelski, there was an option to shoot Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of the John Wick franchise simultaneously, but the director decided not to go ahead with the hectic scheduling that was involved. In a new interview, Stahelski explained his decision and revealed why Chapter 5 is scrapped for now.
The filmmaker said: “God, to be honest with you, I don’t know. Not to cause any weird clickbait or anything like that, the studio first came to us and went, ‘Look, we would like to explore the option of doing 4 and 5 together.’ And the daunting-ness of that at first is a little intimidating, [but] it’s also incredibly flattering. In an industry where everyone’s trying to get something made, and you’re trying to get your wacky ideas made and somebody to listen and give them a shot, to have people come to you and go, ‘Please make more of what you do?’ I can’t thank Lionsgate enough for even presenting that opportunity.”
Stahelski added: “I’ve been a part of projects that have done two films together at once and, [at least] for me, I don’t know how to do it. Creatively, I don’t know how to get my head around that. I think the greatest part is that, after each John Wick, I took two years off to go live and get better; to travel, to read more, and to get better. I don’t know how to do a movie back-to-back and get better for the second one. You’d see John Wick 4 and then John Wick 4B, right? Same camera, same colours, same action, same style of choreography, same storylines. I had no time to be influenced by life and bring life back in, so I just thought it was kind of a cheat.”
Although Stahelski isn’t sure about the possibility of a Chapter 5, Keanu Reeves is more optimistic about a sequel. The actor claimed: “You have to see how the audience responds to what we did. The only reason we’ve had a chance to make these movies is that people have liked what we have done. So I think we have to wait and see how the audience responds to it.”
Watch the trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 below.
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